Ties That Bind
by Japhith
Summary: The long awaited sequel to ReEducating Miss Roth. The Titans and friends continue to live, even as some of their relationships grow stronger, some of them grow further apart, and some of the learn what love really is.
1. The Gang's All Here

Ties That Bind

A Teen Titans Fan Fiction by Jacob McDonald

Opening notes: The long awaited sequel is here. I have nothing more to say, except you can expect this story to be a lot darker than Re-Educating Miss Roth was. Future chapters will have more fun in them than this one, but this one sets the tone and plot for the rest of the series. It's been slow going what with class and all, but I'm writing this when I can.

Standard disclaimers apply. I don't own Teen Titans.

* * *

Chapter One – The Gang's All Here

* * *

Jump City International Airport serves as a thriving hub for travel all across the country, and being the second largest airport on the west coast, for most of the world as well. Especially renown for its clean and sharp looking facilities, JC International is a gem of modern engineering and commerce.

The west side of the airport houses the inter-city transport depot. It is here that the busses and taxies congregate to provide people with rides to their homes, hotels, or places of business. Those with enough money may even rate a private limo ride.

The line of drivers holding signs for their arrivals was twitching in a nervous manner this warm August day. In their clean, pressed suits and snazzy looking hats, most of them were glancing down the line at the one driver standing second from the end of the row.

Maybe it was the heat, or maybe it was the fact that they were all young men except for the odd driver they were staring at. Maybe it was just her constant blowing of bubbles and snapping of her gum.

Most likely though, it was the fact that she was wearing baggy cargo shorts that rode low, revealing the two thin straps that held up her thong, and her tight black tank top that bared her lean stomach. Her hair fell down around her shoulders in numerous tightly woven braids that seemed to swirl pink and blonde almost seamlessly, the top of it covered by the same stylish drivers cap the other drivers wore. Dark sunglasses covered her eyes, and she tapped her black, open toed kitten heals in time with the music plugged into her ears from her i-pod.

The last driver in the row shot her a look and his eyes rested on the top of her cleavage, just revealed by the semi-modest cut of the her tank top. He stared for just a moment too long, and the girl looked over at him with an arched eyebrow.

With a snap of her gum, the young lady asked, "What?"

"Oh… um… nothing."

"They're 34B's."

The young man paled, "Excuse me?"

"My boobs. They're 34B's."

"Oh… that's nice…"

"Well, you were staring. I thought you might want to know."

"Ah… I see. Um…" he glanced down at the sign she was holding, "Isn't Amy spelled with a 'y' and not an 'i'?"

"Not this Ami." The girl replied, then turned to see a rush of oncoming first class arrivals. "Here she is now."

The red haired girl saw her driver and ran forward. When she reached her, she threw her arms around the strange looking girl's neck and hugged her, giggling, "Jenny! Oh, God, I've missed you!"

Jenny laughed as well, "Yeah… it's been kinda' dull without you. Especially dealing with Jan for the past week."

"She being a pain?"

"She's been moping around whining about how much she misses you."

"Well, I _am_ the girl she's got the hots for."

"Thank God it's not me." Jenny rolled her eyes and took in her friend. Ami wore a summery orange top and form fitting khaki capries. Her feet were clad in sneakers, and she wore no socks with them. Jenny stared at the red head's hair for a moment before speaking again, "You, uh… cut your hair."

Ami nodded happily, "I _hated_ having to have it so long for school. I chopped it off as soon as I got home." Indeed, Ami's hair now barely made it past her ears, falling about her face and out from her head in a stylish explosion of red with gold highlights.

"Well, at least it looks good. Maybe a bit more _butch_ than usual…"

As they started walking away from the line (every driver watched them depart with looks of longing) Ami slapped Jen's arm, "Go to hell. I'm totally not some raging bull dyke. I mean, Jan's the only girl I like at all…"

"Yeah, yeah. Make the rest of us jealous."

"Whatever. You probably have some hot guy you've been boffing all summer."

Jenny suddenly looked very nervous and looked away, "Uh… sure. Anyway, it's good to have you back."

"Good to be back." Ami looked mildly suspicious of her friend, but dropped the subject of her love life when Jenny spoke again.

"Your stuff arrived two days ago. Jan made us move it in to the apartment."

"Sweet. Is the place as cool as it looked online?"

"Hell yes. At least ten times cooler than Hanna's apartment, and definitely a thousand times better than my place."

"Jenny, you live in a warehouse in the bad part of town."

"It feels like home though!" Jenny winked, "Come on, let's get moving."

"Did you actually bring a limo?"

"Hell no! I don't have a license to drive one of those things!" Jenny pointed a remote at the line of cars in front of them. A sleek looking black car bleeped and flashed its lights as she unlocked it, "I brought the Jag."

Ami grinned wide, "Sweet."

* * *

Speedy yawned hugely as he walked into the kitchen of Titans Tower. Rubbing some of the sleep from his eyes as he stopped by the coffee maker, he blinked over at the humming form of Donna Troy. She was leaned over by the stove, pulling a pan out of a lower cupboard to fry eggs with, and she was wearing only a longish t-shirt. Her long, lean legs seemed to go on forever, and the shirt fell off one shoulder of flawlessly smooth skin. As she straightened up, his eyes remained glued to her rear.

"Um… Roy?" Donna smiled at him over her shoulder, "Can my ass help you with something?"

"Coffee." Roy grunted.

"My ass can't make you coffee."

"I know."

"Then why are you still staring at it?"

"Are wearing underwear?"

"I'm _so_ no dignifying you with an answer to that question."

At that precise moment, Robin walked through the kitchen and slapped Roy across the side of the head, "Hormones under control, Roy. You have a girlfriend."

Roy rubbed the side of his head as he blinked blurry eyes at Robin, "Coffee?"

Robin rolled his eyes and walked out of the kitchen.

Donna giggled, "You might as well drop the act, Roy. No one's going to make you coffee."

As she set about gathering her eggs to fry, Roy turned to the coffee maker and looked at it in a sorrowful manner, "Coffee…" he lamented in a sad voice.

* * *

In the living room of the Tower, Cyborg sat with a newspaper while Beast Boy flipped channels on the TV from his vantage on the floor directly in front of it. Starfire floated nearby, happily knitting socks (they looked more like masses of yarn) and Raven sat curled in the corner of the sofa next to Cyborg, reading a book in a language no one else knew.

Starfire spoke without looking away from her yarn, "Ami arrives in Jump today, does she not, Raven?"

"Yes." Raven didn't look away from her book, "I'll be going to her and Janice's new apartment later for a housewarming party."

"That sounds wonderful." Starfire nodded happily, "We will all get to see them again soon, correct?"

"Any time you want Star. Their numbers are in the address book in the kitchen."

"There's nothing good on." Beast Boy interrupted.

"How can you tell at the rate you're flipping?" Raven's voice dripped sarcasm.

"Hey, I can _tell_."

Cyborg nudged the coffee table with his foot and it bounced into Beast Boy's back, knocking him over. "Just settle on the video game channel."

"Okay, fine."

"You two are such dorks." Raven stated, still not looking away from her book.

It was then that Robin walked through the living room, "Hey team. Training grounds in half an hour." He was gone and out the door a moment later.

Starfire followed him with her eyes, and stared at the door he had left through for several long minutes after he'd gone.

For the first time all morning, Raven looked away from her book and frowned at the emotions Starfire was emanating.

* * *

The door to the upscale two-bedroom apartment Janice and Ami were sharing swung open and the two travelers from the airport strolled in. Jenny grinned as Ami ran excitedly to the middle of the large living room and spun around, looking at the cathedral ceiling, the huge half-pie window over the French doors that led out to the terrace balcony, and orange micro-suede wrap around couch with lounge that sat in front of the large TV at one side of the room.

"This… is… awesome!" Ami shouted and jumped up and down.

Jenny chuckled, "Glad you like it. Hey, I'll be back for the party later, but I've gotta jet. See ya!"

"What?" Ami frowned and stopped jumping, "Why do you have to leave so soon?"

Jenny nodded her head in a greeting, "Hey there Jan."

Ami spun around and stared. Standing in the entrance to the hallway that led to the bedrooms, was Janice. Her feet were bare (a ring decorated her left middle toe) and she was wearing cut off jeans that she'd obviously made herself, as they were so short the pockets were sticking out the bottom. Her t-shirt was a tight pink number that did little to hide the fact she wasn't wearing a bra.

"Hi." The dark haired girl replied with a light blush. She wasn't even looking and Jenny though; her eyes were locked with Ami's.

"I'll see you kids later." Jenny said as she backed out the door, "Be ready for us by five."

"Uh huh." Both of the other girls responded, still staring at each other.

As soon as the door shut, Janice rushed across the living room and threw her arms around Ami. The shorter girl hugged her back and they both laughed.

"It's been too long, girl." Janice spoke in her slight southern drawl.

"Way too long. Come here." Ami grabbed her friend's head and pulled her down, kissing her firmly on the mouth.

After a moment or two, Janice pulled back and grinned down at her, "Does this mean you've decided to date me?"

"I've planned this little scenario out in my head for the past two weeks, Jan. Don't fuck it up."

Janice giggled, but let out a small noise of shock as Ami shoved her back so she fell on the lounge sticking out of one side of the couch. Crawling on top of her, Ami used one hand to move and the other to push up the dark haired girl's shirt until her bare breasts fell free.

"Holy… shit…" Janice breathed as Ami clamped her mouth over one nipple and started using her tongue to great effect.

Janice was suddenly much happier to have her roommate back than she had thought she'd be.

* * *

An hour later, Jenny opened the front door of Hanna's apartment with the spare key she had, stepped in and looked around, "Hanna?" she called out.

"I'm in the bathroom!" came the blonde girl's reply.

Jenny walked down the hall that led to the bedroom and turned to the bathroom just outside of Hanna's sleeping quarters. She peered in and saw the pregnant young woman bent over her tub with soaking wet hair, wearing a white spaghetti strap tank top that didn't cover her rounded belly, and a pair of slightly skimpy pink panties.

"What the hell are you doing?" Jenny laughed a little.

"I'm washing my hair." Hanna replied in an irritated manner, "Some of us do that, little Miss-Forgets-She-Has-A-Shower."

Jenny rolled her eyes, "I come see you _one time_ after a workout at the Tower and you think I never bathe."

"Shut up and get me a towel." Hanna growled, "I'm having a bad day."

"I kind of got that impression." Jenny replied, and grabbed a towel for her friend, "Tell me about it."

"Well, first I was woken up this morning by Junior kicking like a fucking mule…"

"Language." Jenny reminded, "Your kid's gonna be a potty mouth by age three."

Hanna growled again, and Jenny backed away from her with a worried look on her face. The blonde finished wrapping her head in the towel and stood up, "Anyway, I got up and discovered that I have no food in this apartment-"

"We went shopping for you last week."

Hanna blinked, "I ate all that."

Jenny groaned and held her face in her hands, "You don't get enough money from the government to cover your eating habits."

"I'm eating for two!" the pregnant girl protested as they walked to the bedroom.

"Hanna, you ate enough for two people _before_ you got pregnant. Now you're eating for three."

"Right. So anyway, then Gar called and told me he wouldn't be able to make it tonight as my date because Robin has him on a case that he can't drop."

"Shitty."

"Language."

"Sorry."

"Yeah."

"Yeah."

There was silence between them for a few moments, then Hanna spoke up again, "We missed you last night at the movie. Where were you?"

Jenny looked over at her quickly, but Hanna didn't miss the guilty look, "I was helping out a friend."

"Ah yes… this mysterious friend you have that none of your other friends have ever met." Hanna rolled her eyes, "You can tell us if you're fucking some guy, Jen."

"It's not some guy… she's…"

"When did you become a lesbian?"

"I'm not! I mean… I was helping her get back on her feet. She had a rough couple of years, and I've been helping her get her life back together."

"What's her name?"

Jenny was silent for a long moment, then looked away as she replied, "Selinda. You want to go get some food or what?"

Hanna stared at Jenny's turned face and sighed. She knew when to drop a subject with her pink haired friend, "Yeah. Lemme put some clothes on."

* * *

Raven appeared in the middle of a smallish apartment and looked around with a slight downturn to the corners of her mouth. She took in the beat up couch, the twenty inch TV, and the pile of fashion magazines on the scraped and scuffed coffee table, then glanced to the half shut door that led to the bedroom directly off the living area.

"Tara?" Raven called out, "You called me and said it was urgent. Don't hide."

"Sorry!" Tara came hopping out of her bedroom, still pulling on one shoe, "I was getting dressed."

"What is it you need?"

"Just wondering what I should do if I run into Beast Boy's girlfriend at school tomorrow. I mean, you and I hanging out is supposed to be a secret, right?"

"If you run into Hanna, or Becka, Ami or Janice for that matter, I'd recommend being your usual friendly, outgoing self. Make friends, and be happy. It's what you're good at."

"But… wouldn't that kind of… mess things up?"

"If you have all of your classes with Hanna, it's not by my doing. I wont argue with fate."

"How do you say stuff like that with a straight face?"

Raven sighed, "Tara, I've saved the world from inter-dimensional disaster several times… I feel I have a right to be cryptic and dramatic whenever I want to."

Tara giggled, "Whatever. You just do it to seem more creepy."

Raven grinned a little in spite of her self, "What can I say? Creepy is what I do best."

* * *

At 5:00 PM there was a rapping on the door of Ami and Janice's new apartment. Running from the bedroom with bare feet wearing jean shorts and a sunny yellow t-shirt, Ami called out, "Sorry! Coming!"

As she stopped and threw the door open, she was greeted with a broadly smiling Raven, who was carrying a wrapped present in her hands. Squealing with delight, she threw her arms around the dark girl's neck and hugged her, "Cassie, I have missed you _so_ much!"

Raven choked a little in the death grip the redhead had on her, and shoved her away. Ami looked confused as Raven eyed her critically for a moment, then said, "You've only been together for six hours and you've already had sex twice. Not even Roy is that horny."

Ami's face split into a grin even as Jenny's voice carried from down the hall, "Twice already? Why can't I find a _man_ like that?" As the pink and blonde haired girl stepped into the apartment behind Raven (she also had a gift), she looked back over her shoulder, "Hanna! Hurry up and waddle your ass in here!"

"Fuck off, Jenny, or I swear I'll have Raven transfer the pain of my labor right to you." Hanna stepped in behind Jenny and shoved her, setting down the gift bag she toted by the door.

Grinning, Jenny looked to Raven, "Can you do that?"

Raven didn't even crack a smile, "Yes."

Silence rang about the apartment for a full thirty seconds before Becka suddenly ran into the doorway, a gift bag in either hand swinging wildly, "Ohmygod! Sorry I'm late!"

All eyes swung over to the clock on the wall and saw it was 5:01. "Well," Raven deadpanned, "I say we don't let her in."

"Stop it, Cassie." Janice said as she walked out of the bedroom and swatted the Titan on the arm. "Everyone come on in and get comfy. I made chicken and dumplins' for dinner, so get your bibs out and get ready to chow."

* * *

With a light burp and a rubbing of her rounded belly, Hanna sighed in content and sank down into Ami and Janice's couch, "That's it." She stated, "From now on, if Janice is cooking around here, I demand to be invited over. Southern cooking just plain fills me up better."

"You ate enough for four people." Jenny shook her head, "I can't believe you some times."

"I can." Raven rolled her eyes, "If she was eating enough for two before, it stands to reason that she'll be eating enough for at least three now."

Becka rolled her eyes as well, "Just because she's pregnant it doesn't mean we get to pick on Hanna all night." Standing, the burnet walked across the apartment from the couch to the door and retrieved an armload of house warming presents, "Ami, Janice, start ripping paper."

Ami jumped up like a kid on Christmas and tore into Jenny's present first. After a moment, Janice walked over and sat down behind her lover, smiling down at the present as it was revealed.

"Sweet!" Ami held up the box, showing everyone that it was a complete bar set. Jenny grinned as Raven moaned and buried her face in her hands.

"Jen, why do you encourage them?"

The pink-eyed young woman shrugged, "I figured it was safe with Ami and Jan. They're not the complete lushes that Hanna and Becka are."

"Two words, Jenny." Becka sneered, "Fuck, and you."

"I want to open this one." Janice grabbed up Hanna's bag and opened it, peering inside. She grinned and pulled out a hand made quilt, "Hanna, did you make this yourself?"

Hanna nodded, "I'm ashamed to admit that not only do I know how to quilt, I also had an extraordinary amount of time on my hands these past few months to sit and work on it."

Janice laid it out over the back of the couch and hugged Hanna briefly before sitting down to watch Ami open one of Becka's bags. She pulled out a small weight set and grinned at her friend, "For me, I'm guessing?"

"For either one of you." Becka smiled, "I've been really getting into working out this summer, so I figured I'd bring you two along for the ride."

"I doubt we'll be able to drag Ami to a yoga class," Janice winked, "but I'll go with you."

"Why would I go to a yoga class when I can just invade Jenny's place and get a _real_ work out?" Ami rolled her eyes.

Becka rolled hers right back, "If you can make it there without getting shot at…"

Jenny waved a hand, "It's not that bad. Especially lately. Seems this crazy bitch with glowing eyes keeps showing up at all the muggings in the area and breaking people's arms."

"Wonder why that is…" Janice rolled her eyes, "Ami, open the next one."

"Sure thing." Ami opened the other bag Becka had brought with her and pulled out some clothes. She glanced over at the brunet with a questioning glance.

"Yeah, okay." Becka threw her hands up, "Hanna helped me pick out the clothes."

"Oh, good." Janice and Ami both looked relieved as they spoke in unison. Everyone burst out laughing, and in the time it took them to calm down, Ami had separated out which clothes were hers and which ones were for Janice. It was fairly easy, since hers were so much smaller.

"Last one." Janice pulled Raven's gift towards her and carefully tore the paper off. Ami looked impatient.

"You always take so long…"

"You don't take enough time."

"I took plenty of time earlier today though, and you loved it." Ami winked.

"Gag." Hanna stuck her tongue out at Ami.

"Can it sister. This is our party, and we'll talk about our sex lives if we want to."

Janice finally got all the paper off and opened the box up. When she looked down inside, her jaw dropped. "Oh… my God, Cassie…" Ami jumped over and looked inside as well. Her jaw dropped too.

"Holy… shit… is that real gold?"

"Is that real sapphire?" Janice reached down inside the box and carefully removed the gift. It was a small gold stand, not more than eight inches across, crafted to look like intricately intertwining laurel leaves. It had four feet, each adorned at the point where they met the center ring with large sapphires. Nestled in the center of the stand was a large, polished crystal.

"That's a good stone." Jenny commented, "Where'd you find it?"

"That one is from my personal collection." Raven replied, "As were the ones I gave to you and to Hanna."

"Why is theirs so much bigger than mine?" Hanna asked.

Jenny replied for Raven, "Bigger area. Needs a bigger stone."

"Oh, okay." Hanna nodded and smiled.

"What… does it do?" Janice asked. She knew Raven well enough to know that this was no ordinary hunk of rock. It had to be magical in some way.

"It's called a Celestial Ward Focal." Raven replied, "I've already cast several spells into it, so it's already working, but if I needed to, or Jenny for that matter, one of us could cast more and it will work as a focal to house them all and cast them around your dwelling."

Jenny picked up the explanation, "Right now it has three spells cast into it. One is a kind of standard ward to keep away evil spirits… that one's just good to have around. The other two are for dispelling rage, and forcing out evil intent."

"What does that mean?" Ami asked, still looking at the orb in awe.

"It means," Raven replied, "that no one in this apartment may ever grow violently angry, and no one may enter across the threshold if they intend harm to the occupants."

"Basically, it's a way to keep you guys safe here, all the time. No one can come in if they want to hurt you, and no one can get mad enough to hurt you once they're in." Jenny grinned, "Neat, huh?"

Hanna nodded, "Raven gave one to Jenny and I too. Becka doesn't get one, cause she has like, twenty SS Agents patrolling her house all the time."

Becka shrugged, "I see no point in moving out of my parents home when they're never there anyway, and it's free."

"Thanks, Raven." Janice said, "Thank you all… I've never had better gifts."

"That's because I just showed up!" All of the girls jumped a little and looked over to the door to see Speedy leaning against the doorframe, grinning casually. "Yo." He winked.

Raven arched an eyebrow, "Not that I don't love seeing you, dear, but what are you doing here?"

"Actually, I'm here to ruin your night. Robin needs you uptown. Mumbo's out again, and the Boy Wonder wants a little magical muscle of his own as back up."

Raven sighed and stood up, "Duty calls girls."

"Aw!" Ami pouted, "Can't we just let the crazy magician steal a bunch of money and crack bad jokes for just this one night?"

"No can do." Raven shook her head; "The ass hole turned me into a bunny once. I owe him."

"As a consolation, I brought some good cheer." Speedy walked over to the girls and handed Ami and Janice each a bottle of wine, "They're only fifteen years old, but they're the best of their year. I've been saving them for a special occasion."

"Wow…" Ami looked at her bottle, "Guess it pays to be rich, huh?"

"Not that any of you are exactly poor…" he rolled his eyes, "You coming Rae?"

"Sure. Just let me say goodbye first."

* * *

Jenny waved as she backed out of Ami and Janice's apartment several hours latter, "No, no… I really have to get home." She paused and stuck her middle finger up at the girls inside the apartment, "Don't give me those looks. You know I have… work to do."

Becka's voice came from inside, "Be careful, Jen. Stay away from… you know."

Jenny's smile faded, "Yeah… no guns. I know." She turned away, "See ya girls latter."

"Bye!" the four girls chorused from inside and Jenny shut the door. She walked five steps before pausing and reaching a hand up to rest over her left breast. She fingered the scar hidden under her clothes there, from the bullet that had blasted part of heart away.

"Fuck." She cursed under her breath and dropped her hand to her side, clenching her fist, "I'm so… weak."

* * *

"Beast Boy!" Robin barked, "I said get _behind_, Mumbo!"

"I'm _trying_, dude!" Beast Boy replied, "I can't tell which way I'm going with this funky spell he put on me!" the green changeling morphed into a rhino and promptly ran into the wall of the music store they were fighting in front of.

Mumbo cackled in glee as he waved his wand at a mailbox that then jumped up and started spitting out envelops like shrunken. Robin ducked to the side and Starfire swooped down, throwing a hail of energy blasts that destroyed the mail before it could give anyone a nasty paper cut.

"I can't believe this guy is giving us so much trouble…" Toria was struggling off to one side, trying to free herself from a lamppost that was wrapped around her like a python, "He's an idiot, not an evil genius."

"Don't take Mumbo lightly." Robin warned as he dove forward and tried to tag the crazed magician with a bird-a-rang. Mumbo waved his wand and the weapon became an actual robin that fluttered away.

Robin sighed and looked up, "Where the hell are Raven and Speedy?"

As if in reply, an arrow shot out of nowhere and pinned Mumbo's coat tail to the ground.

"Eh?" the villain looked down, "What's this? A Titan that uses arrows?"

"Yeah." Speedy dropped down from the music store's roof, "Been around for awhile now, Mumbie."

"Oh ho! Speedy! I remember you now!"

_"Good."_ A slightly demonic voice rumbled from behind him. Mumbo suddenly looked quite worried and looked over his shoulder to see Raven floating there, her blue cloak looking far larger that normal, and four red eyes peering from the darkness of her hood, _"Remember me too?"_

Mumbo's face lit up, "Bunny!" he shouted and pointed his wand.

A stream of energy from a sonic cannon blasted him off his feet before he could zap Raven into a fuzzy vermin once again. As soon as Mumbo picked himself up, Raven was on top of him, her dark powers stripping him of his wand and hat as he tried to get away. Soon, only a scared looking old man remained.

"Back to the nursing home with you, Mumbo!" Cyborg cackled as he walked up, his sonic cannon becoming a hand once more. "Sorry I'm late, ya'll. Gridlock on East Main."

"Timely interventions are always welcome." Robin muttered as he walked past the titanium Titan, "Raven, you can stop trying to devour his soul and put him down any time."

Raven's eyes returned to normal as she placed Mumbo back on the ground from where she'd been suspending him over the street and looking at him in a hungry manner. Starfire stooped down next to them and picked up the dropped wand and hat.

"These articles are exceptionally dangerous… I believe we should lock them away in the evidence room of the Tower this time."

"If the police let us." Robin rolled his eyes. "They seem to have a goal of letting Mumbo run wild on a bi-yearly basis."

As Starfire giggled, Mumbo suddenly jerked away from Raven and grabbed the hat from the alien girl's hands. He cackled madly as he jammed it back down on his head and his skin turned blue once again.

"Now, my wand missy!" and he held out his hand. Starfire gasped in shock as the wand flew from her fingers…

And was sliced in half in mid-air by a bird-a-rang. Mumbo scowled and turned to cast a spell at Robin, but was met with a hard fist to his nose. The Boy Wonder pressed his attack, following up his nose-breaking punch with a quick knee to the gut. A well aimed chop to the back of the head sent the crazed magician down, and Robin snatched the hat back off of his head before delivering a swift kick to the ribs of the now normal man, making him cry out and curl into a ball.

Tossing the hat over his shoulder to Toria, Robin whirled around and scowled at his girlfriend, "What the _hell_ were you thinking letting him get a hold of the hat again? You know better than to let a perp, even a downed one, have any advantages until they're secured!" Star's looked stricken by his harsh words and stared as he turned away from her, "Full on, amateur, _stupid_ mistake."

"But… Robin…"

He spun back around and held up a hand, "Don't, Star… just don't. Raven, wait here for the police to show, then meet up with Toria for patrols of downtown. Cy, you and BB can take the west side, Star and Speedy will take the north. I'll be uptown on the east end."

"But…" Starfire looked desperate to keep her boyfriend with her, "Friend Jinx will be-"

"_Jennifer_," Robin emphasized, "is not a Titan, nor should she be acting like one if she isn't. I'll be on the east side. No one wait up… I'll be back late."

Pulling out a grappler, he fired it off and swooped up into the night.

Cyborg sighed, "Ya'll heard the guy. Let's get crackin'."

All of the Titans looked unhappy, but they all split up to take care of their individual patrols. As they dispersed, Raven stared at Robin's quickly retreating form, glaring from under her hood.

* * *

By the time Jenny got back to her apartment, she found she wasn't alone. Sighing, she rubbed her eyes and locked her door behind her. "Selinda… you really need to find your own place to stay."

The redheaded former HIVE agent grinned from where she was laying on the bed of the sleeping area, reading a tabloid. "But your place is so… lair-ish."

Jenny walked to her closet, which consisted of several free standing portable closet bars, "I like having a lair. It reminds me of what I was, and what I'm _not any more_."

"Whatever." Shimmer jumped up and tossed the rag aside, "You still go out almost every night and beat the snot out of people."

"I beat up law breakers and people who threaten the safety of my neighborhood, not just any ol' bum on a corner." Jenny had stripped all of her clothes off and put on a white tank top. She stood in just that and her underwear and shot a look at her friend.

Shimmer shrugged, "Details. You still enjoy inflicting pain."

"I don't." Jenny said firmly, "I just want to see them hurt for their crimes."

"You keep telling yourself that. Hey, you have any food?"

As the redhead walked to the kitchen area, Jenny sighed again, "Selinda…"

"I know, I know. You don't want to join my merry band of bad guys. That's fine. We don't really work Jump anyway. We're more of an L.A. thing, I think."

"You'll want to stay there. Robin wont like anyone invading his city."

"Ah, yes. Your boyfriend, Robin."

"He's not my-"

"You keep telling yourself that too."

Jenny just glared.

Shimmer glared back.

There was a pounding on the door and they both jumped.

"Uh…" Jenny looked at her door, then back to Shimmer. With a light smile, she saw the black boots of her friend vanishing into the training room, where she would take the back way out. Turning back to her door, Jenny unlocked it and blinked when she saw a scowling Robin standing there.

"Uh… hey there Tex. What's up?"

Without a word, Robin pushed into the apartment, and kicked the door shut behind him. Swiftly locking all the deadbolts, he whipped back around and grabbed the back of Jenny's head, crushing his lips to hers.

Jenny grinned up into his mouth and reached up, peeling off his mast and tossing it aside. Robin moved forward and over balanced her, sending both of them tumbling to the floor. As she attempted to detach his cape, Robin simply ripped her tank top down the middle and tossed it aside. As his mouth attacked her breasts, Jenny gasped and finally got his cape to fall off. She moaned softly as his hand snaked down the top of her panties and his other hand gripped her shoulders.

Smiling, she gave herself up to him.

* * *

Hanna stepped into her apartment and sighed as she looked around. The baby-proofing was well underway, but she and Gar still had a lot of work to do, and he had been quite busy lately with his Titan duties.

"What's wrong?" Becka asked as she stepped in behind her best friend and shut the door. She tossed her over night back on the couch and arched an eyebrow at the blonde.

"I dunno. I miss Gar, and this place gets lonely when it's just me and Junior."

"Well, I'm here tonight, so don't go feeling all sorry for yourself."

"I guess."

"Hey…" Becka stepped over and hugged her friend from behind, "You're okay, Hanna. Things are going smoothly in your pregnancy, Gar sees you as much as he can, and school starts tomorrow. We have two classes together, and it'll be just like we're back at WJCIE."

"Right along with the waking up late and barely making it to class on time…" Hanna rolled her eyes.

"You bet. Tonight, we're going to stay up late and watch sappy chick flicks."

"Right on." Hanna pumped a fist in the air, "Alright, let's change and I'll make popcorn."

"Sweet." Becka grabbed her bag and started for the bedroom, while Hanna walked into the kitchen. As she opened the cupboard and took out a bag of popcorn to microwave, she wiped the tears from her eyes.

* * *

Starfire floated along over the rooftops of the north end of Jump City, staring longingly to the east, where she knew Robin was most likely beating muggers and drug dealers into oblivion. He had been so angry lately, and when he wasn't ignoring her, he was snapping at her or outright yelling as he had earlier.

"What is bothering him so?" she muttered to herself and looked down at the rooftops.

Where she saw a dark form dart from an open window and scrambled to the top of a building. With a frown, Star swooped down.

"Halt!" she called out, and her eyes glowed green, "Go no further!"

The dark form turned back to her and stared. She blinked as she landed not far from the male form and took in the skull mask with the red cross splitting it.

"Red-X." Starfire said in a bold voice, "I demand to know what it is you are doing here!"  
He seemed to consider her for a second, then shrugged, "I just boosted the hard copy prints for a shopping mall that's going in soon. I figured having an entry point and escape rout planned before I went in and stole everything not tied down would be helpful."

Star seemed taken aback, "That was… honest."

"Thanks. I try to tell the truth when I can." Red-X saluted, "See ya, Babe."

Star snapped out of her funk, "Do not move!" she held up a glowing hand, "You are wanted on several counts of grand larceny, and will not move from this spot until law enforcement has arrived to-"

Red-X cut her off with a laugh, "Do you really think I'm just going to stand here because you tell me to? Get real, Starfire."

"But… you… and I…" Star's eyes went wide, "That is the first time you have used my name and not called me 'Babe.'"

"I also try to be nice to people who've earned my respect." Red-X shrugged, "You have. I have to go now. See ya." And he dashed off, leaving a dazed, thoroughly confused Starfire.

* * *

As Robin lay next to her on the bed, breathing hard, Jenny stretched. "Wow." She said, "That was… hmm."

Robin didn't reply. She looked over at him, and saw his blue eyes focused on the ceiling. "Dick… what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Bullshit. You need to work past whatever it is you're dealing with right now."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Now, I'm not acusing you of anything here. I'm just saying… you came in here and acted like you'd have been just as happy punching my face in as fucking me… not that I care too much one way or the other… I'm just saying."

Robin ignored her and pulled himself out of the bed, and began looking for the parts of his costume.

Jenny rolled over and pulled the sheets up to her chest, just covering her breasts. She grinned across the open expanse of her apartment at the young man dressing there. He was just smoothing his eye mask back in place when she spoke in a sarcastic tone, "You can leave the money by the door on your way out."

"Oh, I'm sorry Jenny." He turned and glared at her, his bare chest rising and falling in an exaggerated sigh, "I didn't realize this was a flowers and mix tapes kind of thing." He turned away again to find the top of his uniform and scowled, "This is sex, Jen. Nothing more."

"Nope." Jenny flopped back, "Nothing more at all."

"And what does that mean?"

"Nothing… just… what if she finds out?"

"She won't."

"I think Raven already knows."

"Then why is she letting it go on?"

"Probably because she loves us both and doesn't want to see us get hurt."

He was silent for a moment, then finished putting on his uniform and swept out of the apartment, leaving her naked and alone once again.

* * *

It was 2:00AM when Raven settled on the top of a twenty foot monument in the City Center Park. She pulled out her T-Comp and patched through to all the Titans in Jump save one.

"All points, this is Raven. Let's pack it in everyone. If anything happens, we can respond. Let's let the cops do their jobs for once."

Cyborg was the first to reply, _"What about Robin?"_

"He's blocked com functions. I'll go get him."

Speedy's voice was next, _"Don't be too late!"_

"You're not getting laid tonight, Speedy. I'm too exhausted."

_"Aw!"_

_"Sucker."_ Beast Boy snickered.

_"Can it Green Cheeks, or I'll be poking _you_ with something long and pointy tonight."_

_"Ew."_ Cybrog replied, _"Toria?"_

_"I'm with Rae. After she reels Robin in, we can all get some sleep."_

_"Star, what about you?"_ Cy asked.

_"I am already on my way back to the Tower."_

"Okay." Raven cut off any more chatter, "Just head home, everyone. I'll be back with our fearless leader soon."

* * *

Robin held down the mugger with one hand while the old man whose wallet the young man had stolen fled down the street. The Boy Wonder's fist pumped up and down, and he growled as he spoke in a calm voice, "You caught me on a really bad night, asshole."

The mugger had long ago lost conciouness, and as Robin raised his fist back to strike again, soft hands clamped down over his gloved knuckled. Turning his head, Robin saw Raven looking at him with depthless violet eyes.

She spoke softly, "Stop it, Dick. You're killing him."

Robin nodded slowly and dropped the man, then turned to Raven, "What is it?"

"It's late. Time to head home."

"I told you-"

"And I ignored you. You haven't slept in three days, Robin, and it's starting to show. This excess violence, your snapping at Star…"

"I'm fine."

"You're a mess." Raven shook her head, "Dick…"

"I said I'm fine, Raven."

She held up her hands and showed them to him, "Does this look fine to you?"

Robin's eyes grew wide behind his mask. Her hands were covered in blood, and as he looked down at his still clenched fist, he saw that his knuckles were stained red as well, "Jesus…"

"Come back to the Tower and sleep, Robin. We'll talk about this in the morning."

"There's nothing to talk about." Robin shook his head, "I'm just a little stressed." And he turned and walked away down the ally way they were in. He had made it to the mouth and was about to walk out on to the street when Raven called after him.

"You can't keep doing this, Dick."

He paused and looked back over his shoulder at her, "Doing what?"

"You know what. Or who."

"I don't have any idea what you're talking about." Robin looked away from her and stalked out of the ally and back into the night. She could only assume he was going home.

Sighing, Raven looked down at the ground and vanished into the shadows.

* * *

Closing Notes – Review! All of you! Please! 


	2. Trouble Brewing

Ties That Bind

A Teen Titans Fan Fiction by Jake McDonald

Opening Notes: I finally found the time to finish this as the semester rolls to a close here. Maybe I'll be able to pound out another one over the holiday break. For now though, read and enjoy.

* * *

Chapter Two – Trouble Brewing

* * *

Starfire floated out of the elevator that connected the main common room of Titans Tower with the upper residential levels, stifling a yawn. She had stayed up the night before keeping watch on the hallway outside her door, waiting for Robin to come home.

He hadn't.

She assumed that meant he had either stayed out all night fighting crime, or he had found someplace else to sleep. Jenny had offered her dwelling up to any of them if they ever needed a place other than the Tower to sleep, and Star didn't really mind if he had stayed there. She preferred him to return home with a cool head, and sparring with Jenny would burn some of the rage from his system.

As she flew towards the kitchen so she could make herself a breakfast of healthy Glorg before the other Titans awoke and were repulsed by the smell of it, something caught her eye. Stopping in mid-flight and staring in surprise, she sputtered a noise of shock.

Robin was half lying down on the couch, his chin tucked down to his chest, snoring lightly. His costume was rumpled, and it looked as if he had been sleeping there for most of the night.

Floating over, Star frowned down at him. His cape had been removed and was draped over the back of the couch, so he shivered lightly in his sleep. She reached over and grabbed the blanket that they kept of the back of the sofa and was about to spread it over him when she looked back and saw bright blue eyes looking up at her.

"Eep!" Star floated away a little, dropping the blanked in shock. Robin had somehow reached up and removed his mask without her seeing it, and he was gazing at her with a sad smile on his face.

"I don't need the blanket." He said and reached out slowly, looking as if his muscles were stiff and his hands bruised. He gently took hold of her wrist and pulled her down. Starfire hovered down into his embrace and wrapped her arms around his middle as he wrapped his around her shoulders. They held one another in silence for several moments before he spoke again, "I love you, Kori… you know that, right?"

"I do." She replied softly, meekly, "And I love you as well."

Robin sighed, and held her tighter. Starfire buried her face in his chest, and forced herself to forget about the rest of the world for a while.

* * *

"Holy crap, we are so late!" Hanna shouted as she rushed to her bedroom from the bathroom, "How the hell did I let you talk me into a slumber party the night before we start collage?"

Becka, supremely calm and applying mascara, shrugged, "This is nothing we haven't done before."

"Before we didn't have a twenty minute walk to class!" Hanna shouted, tossing aside her towel (which was all she was wearing) and grabbing some lotion, which she immediately started applying to her swollen belly.

Becka looked over at her naked friend and smiled softly. The image of a caring mother taking care of herself and her baby was so touching that she almost choked up, "Hanna… you're beautiful, you know that?"

Hanna stopped and looked over at her friend, "First Janice, then Ami, and now you're a lesbian…"

"Shut up. You know what I mean… even pregnant and pissed off you're still beautiful. And you're a really great person… inside and everything. I'm glad you're my best friend."

Hanna smiled in a sad way, "I'm not as good as you think I am, Becka. But thank you."

"Yeah." The burnet girl smiled, "Do you think I should have Cassie come over and teleport us to campus?"

"Hell no!" Hanna shuddered, "I'm never going back to that cold, dark place again! Whatever the hell she called it… the Between."

Becka picked up her cell and flipped it open, "Then get dressed fast and I'll call us up a ride. Limo service anyone?"

"Pays to be the senators daughter!" Hanna grinned.

* * *

Speedy sat up in bed and looked around in a sleepy manner. His hand patted the sheets next to him and then moved over and scratched his bare chest lazily when he didn't find his girlfriend there. "Raven?" he called out, "You up already?"

"I couldn't sleep well." Her quiet voice replied from across the room, next to the windows. She had pulled aside the drapes, but since her room faced west, out across the water, there was little sunlight pouring in.

Speedy swung his long legs out of the bed and stood up, observing his girlfriend. Raven was wearing a sheer nightgown that was easily see-through, revealing only a black thong. She was topless, as she often was when they were alone in her chambers. As he walked up behind her wearing only red boxer shorts with twin golden arrows crossed on one leg, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders from behind.

"What's wrong?" he muttered into her hair, "Is it Dick again?"

Raven sighed and continued to stare out the window. The morning sun was breaking over the buildings behind them, and the Tower cast a huge 'T' shaped shadow across the waves. It was an impressive sight, and it reminded both of them just how huge their dwelling really was.

After a minute of silence, Raven spoke again, "He's… getting out of control. I don't know what he's thinking. I stopped him from beating a man to death last night, Victor stopped him from doing the same thing last week…"

"And I stopped him from throwing a bird-a-rang at a twelve-year-old girl who was shoplifting a candy bar." Speedy nodded, "I know."

"And he's still…" Raven looked down, "How can he be such a fool?"

"I'd be able to answer that if you would _tell me what it is he's doing."_ Speedy squeezed her lightly, "Come on, Rae… what is it that's keeping you from telling me? We can help him together-"

"No." Raven looked back up and opened her violet eyes, "This is something he has to stop on his own." Turning in his arms, Raven wrapped her own around his neck and hugged him firmly, "I'm sorry."

"I trust you to do what's best, Raven. For Dick, and for the Titans."

Raven didn't let him see the slight wince that pinched her face at that comment. Stepping back from him, she let her eyes trail down his figure and stop just below his waist line, "Well," she smirked, "I see that you at least are sticking to your normal routines…"

"When you're wearing that gown and nothing else, what do you expect?"

Raven sighed in an overly dramatic kind of way, "I guess I'll just have to do something about this then…"

Speedy rolled his blue eyes, "Oh yes… you're so put upon."

Raven giggled and shoved him back on the bed before jumping on top of him.

* * *

Tara finished lacing up her knee high black boots and turned to the full length mirror next to her front door. With her eyes trailing up, she inspected every last detail of her outfit. After the boots was her black skirt, which dropped to a modest (for her, anyway) mid thigh, then her white, button down, short sleeved top. She'd left the bottom two buttons undone to show off her belly button ring, and the top three undone to show off what little bit of cleavage she had managed to squeeze out of her relatively small breasts. That left only two in the center actually done up. With a frown, she buttoned another top button. Didn't want to seem _too_ much like a slut on the first day…

She had a leather cuff strapped around one wrist (also black) and made sure her right sleeve rode up just high enough to show off the bottom of her new tattoo so that people could see it and ask about it if they wanted to. It was of a bright, clear gem half hewn out of a lump of dark rock.

"Diamond in the rough." She muttered with a smile, and inspected her makeup. Light shades of blue and black, just enough to accent her sharp features and large, blue eyes. With a wider smile she hoisted her beat up looking brown leather back-pack (she used it when she went hiking too) and headed out the door to her first day of collage.

* * *

Cyborg grunted with the effort of blocking a strong Amazonian punch with his left arm, "I could do without having to rework my entire body, Donna." He said as she ducked under another punch and shoulder blocked her across the sparring mats.

Troia went into a midair spin and landed on her feet. She grinned over at her opponent, "Can't take the heat, Vic?"

"Oh, I think I can dish out as good as I get…" he grinned back and charged in with a heavy titanium fist.

Troia caught it and tossed him aside like a rag-doll.

"Waaa!" Cyborg tumbled across the floor and came up on one knee, "Damn, woman!"

"I thought you could dish it out!" she laughed and flew in at him, "Don't give up on me yet, Vic - oof!" Cyborg caught her in the gut with a standing punch and slammed her into the mats. As he hauled back a fist to pound her again, she smiled up at him in a pained manner, "Seen Jenny lately?"

Cyborg over balanced and Troia reached up and grabbed his head. His one human eye went wide as she flew up off the ground and pitched him, head first (literally) into a wall. She floated back and covered her mouth when she saw what she had done, "Great Hera! Vic! I'm so sorry!"

Flying over, she helped him extract himself from the small hole he'd made. Waving a hand, he stood up and cracked a grin, "Don't sweat it. Wall's hurt more than I am."

"Still…"

"Eh… you just threw me for a loop there."

"Dirty tactic. Sorry."

"You won the match. Can't be sorry for that."

"You wanna talk about it?"

"About what?"

"Jenny, you walking soda machine." Troia walked over and nudged him, "I know I'm the old lady around here, but I think I know a thing or two about being in love."

Cyborg sighed and they walked over to a bench along the side of the room and sat down. "That's just the thing… can you call it love when we've barely seen each other for two weeks? And then weeks before that? It's like one day she just stopped calling…"

"Maybe she's having trouble adjusting to civilian life… she has been out picking fights with every gang banger and mugger in the city most nights…"

"Maybe she just got a better offer." Cy shook his head.

"Vic…" Troia put a hand on his shoulder, "We've only known each other for seven months, but I can already tell that there are very few men out there that would be a better offer than you."

He smiled over at her, "Thanks, Donna."

"Anytime. You wanna go again? Or maybe breakfast?"

"Breakfast for sure… gotta beat Beast Boy there so we can avoid his Tofu Waffle Surprise…"

* * *

Ami was humming a light tune off key as she stuffed her text books and notebooks into a brand new backpack. Janice stepped over to her with a nervous smile, "How do I look?" she asked, twirling once and striking a pose.

Ami looked up and giggled. Janice was wearing a plaid skirt and a white top, with knee high socks and black kitten heals. She had also added her new fashion statement, mandated by her optometrist.

It was all Ami could do to keep from giggling, "The glasses top it off, Jan. You're every pedophiles wet dream…"

Janice stomped her foot and pouted, "It's not funny! Do they really make me look dorky?"

"Janice…" Ami smiled a true smile, "They look fine. You look fine. And I mean fine. Someday, you're going to have to accept the fact that you're a babe, and that there are very few girls out there hotter than you."

"You're just saying that 'cause you've had sex with me…" Janice grinned in a sly way.

Ami waggled a finger at her with a grin of her own, "Don't expect yesterday to become a regular thing… I may have loosened the no-sleeping-together-rule, but we're still in collage now, and we're going to have homework to do."

"Fine, fine. We'll see how long you last…"

Ami snorted and was about to reply when they heard a honking. Curious, both girls grabbed their bags and purses and stepped out of their apartment and down the steps to the stoop.

Parked in front of their building was a black limo. Becka was half out of the skylight in the back, waving them forward, "I know you both have early classes! Come on!"

Janice and Ami looked at each other and grinned.

* * *

Jenny opened her eyes slowly and let her sensitive optics adjust to the light in her room. With the vertical pupils she'd been blessed with as a minor meta-human trait, she could see quite well in the dark, but it made bright light a little harder to get used to-

In half a second Jenny was awake, eyes wide, and out of bed. She quickly wrapped the sheet around her naked frame and glanced around the room, looking to see if anyone was there. With no windows in the room, there shouldn't have been any lights on.

It only took a second for her eyes to rest on the form of Shimmer sitting at the computer across the room, sipping on a Pepsi from the fridge and playing minesweeper like an expert.

"Morning." Shimmer said, then burped as the carbonation got to her.

"Selinda…" Jenny slowly sat down on her bed, "You've got to stop breaking in like this… what if one of my friends came over and-"

"Oh, so I'm not your friend?" Shimmer spun around in the chair and grinned at her pink and blonde haired companion.

"You know what I mean. One of my super hero friends. The ones that like to thump cute little red headed super villain chicks like you."

"Feh. Robin didn't notice me last night."

"You ducked out before he could."

"How was that by the way? Is he still fucking you like a beast or is he wussing out?"

Jenny rolled her eyes, "Only you would consider a man actually treating a girl with some kind of respect in bed to be a wimp."

"I like it rough. Sue me." Shimmer shrugged, "So?"

"He fucked me harder last night than ever before actually. It was great but… Selinda, I'm sleeping with one of my friend's boyfriends behind her back… I know I'm evil and everything, but that's just _mean_."

Shimmer smiled in a kind manner, "Jenny… you've fallen so far from evil that I don't think you could even steal a candy bay anymore without feeling guilty. You're a good guy now."

"Am not." Jenny looked mutinous.

The red haired villain threw her hands up, "Then prove it, girl! Come on, I've got a job lined up for the end of the week."

Jenny looked away, "I don't… I mean, I just got out, and without the HIVE to back me up anymore…"

"That's such bullshit." Shimmer got up and walked over to her. Leaning down she kissed Jenny's cheek lightly, "My brother is going to be in town soon, and Giz too. Along with my new friend, we're going to be quite the bad ass team. Still, we could use you. You're so great with Baran and Mirkon."

When Jenny didn't answer, Shimmer shook her head, "Just think about it." And she walked away.

The door shutting was the cue for Jenny to break down and cry.

* * *

After her first two classes, Janice walked a few blocks from the JCU campus to find lunch. Ami, Hanna and Becka all had more classes right in a row, but her schedule gave her a bit of a break halfway through the day.

After stopping in at a small sandwich shop and picking up a salami on rye, the dark haired girl walked across the street to City Central Park and deposited herself on a bench to enjoy the warm California Autumn. With her backpack at her feet and her food in her lap, Janice hummed a light tune and watched the birds fly from tree to tree, and the people walk past.

Almost as soon as she was done eating, she noticed a young woman walking down the path that led past her bench. She was of average height, but that was the only thing average about her. A short skirt and a tight t-shirt made her large (but not too large) bust size and shapely hips stand out. Her long brown hair swished in the breeze, and her sandaled feet scuffed over the ground, revealing her well-manicured and oddly sexy toes.

Janice almost swooned.

The girl slowed and stopped in front of her, and Janice noticed her beautiful blue eyes. Deep and lidded in a sexy manner, they made her want to stare at them for hours. They made her want to paint them.

"Um… you're staring at me." The girl said.

Janice let out and 'eep!' and threw her hands over her mouth, looking away and blushing furiously. "Sorry! Sorry sorry sorry!"

The other girl laughed and sat down next to her, "Don't worry about it! Hey, I know I look good, and you look pretty hot yourself, so what's the deal, you know? We can make everyone that walks past drool."

"Oh… damn. I'm sooo sorry. I just…"

"You were _so_ checking me out."

Janice looked over at her in a worried manner.

"Don't sweat it girl!" the other young woman laughed again, a lyrical sound, "I'm lesbian too!"

Janice's mouth dropped open and she stared, "How… how did you know?"

"Well the way you were staring at my boobs for one. Why? Are you ashamed of it?"  
"No! It's just… no one can usually tell. They see a pretty girl and they automatically assume I'm straight."

"Pff." The girl shook her head, "Tell me about it. Hey, my name is Beth Gains. What's yours?"

"Janice Butler. Are you going to JCU?"

"Yep. Sophomore this year."

Janice blushed again, "It's my first day."

Beth laughed, "So how's it going?"

"Getting better, actually."

"Glad to hear it. Hey, you want me to show you the coolest coffee house in town? It's right on campus."

"Sure!" Janice brightened up, "I don't have class again until almost 5:00."

"Perfect. Let's go!" Beth grabbed her hand and pulled her up. Janice laughed and barely had time to grab her backpack before dashing off after her new friend.

* * *

Ami had just stepped out of the building she had her math class in when her cell rang. Pulling it out and flipping it open as she started to walk towards the bus stop that would take her home for the day, she put it to her ear and propped it between her head and her shoulder as she stuffed a notebook in her backpack.

"Hello?"

_"You shouldn't walk like that. You'll run into someone."_

Ami stopped and grinned as she zipped up her bag and looked around. Her eyes rested on the lean form of a girl with blonde hair with pink streaks in it, sitting on the shoulders of a statue of one of JCU's founders.

"Hey!" Ami waved and ran up to Jenny. "What brings you down to campus? Did you decide to take classes after all?"

Jenny snorted, "I graduated from two schools already. I don't need any more education."

"Whatever. Your first school only taught you how to blow things up and kill people. How is that an education?"

"Those are very useful life skills, thank you." Jenny jumped down from her twelve foot perch and landed nimbly. She straightened up and grinned, tucking her cell away, "I have a surprise for you."

"What's that?"

"You and I are going to have lunch with a celebrity today!"

"Who?" Ami effected false shock, "Please say George Clooney!"

"Sorry. Couldn't get any big name A-Listers, so I wrangled up a rich model who wants to pay for some really nice food for us!"

"Who said I'm paying?" Ginger Hamilton looked mildly miffed as she walked up to them, "Amelia, the boys on this campus are barbaric. Seven of them just hit on me. How can you stand them?"

Jenny and Ami both stared at the short sundress Ginger was wearing, and the three hundred dollar shoes she had to match it. She looked like a movie star, only more beautiful.

"Gee, wonder why they were hitting on you and not me." Jenny rolled her eyes. She was wearing tight jeans and a baby tee with one word printed across the front; Jinx.

Ginger rolled her eyes, "Seriously, I'm starved. Let's go someplace expensive so I can spend some of my father's less than hard earned money."

Ami just shook her head with a grin, "I'm not doing anything! Hey! Let's call Maggie! I just got in yesterday and haven't seen her yet either!"

"Good idea. I've seen a lot of her this summer." Ginger pulled out her cell and punched up a speed dial.

"You've been hanging out with Maggie Delmont?" Jenny asked as they started towards a small parking lot nearby.

"Sure. She wanted a job and I needed a PA to help when my modeling started to take off. She puts all those smarts to waste working for me, but really she just wants to paint, and I pay her well."

"Sounds comfy." Ami smiled.

"Hmm." Ginger smiled and nodded, then spoke into her phone as Maggie picked up and answered, "Yeah, sorry. I know it's your day off, but I was wondering if you'd come with me to a lunch engagement? Yes, the guest list consists of one Jennifer Wrangler, and one Amelia MacGregor." There was excited shouting from the other end of the line, and Ginger held the phone away from her head. After a moment, she spoke into the receiver again, cutting off Maggie's rant, "Yes! I know! Just take a shower and meet us over at Georgieos. Alright. See you there." Snapping her phone shut, Ginger sniffed, "No sense of propriety. She's covered in paint, but excited to see the two of you."

"Alright!" Jenny pumped a fist in the air, "Glad I ran into you!"

"You stalked me from my apartment to my photo shoot and demanded that I take you and Ami out to lunch. How is that running into me?"

"Hey! I used to trade punches with the Titans! I'm evil! It's all I know how to do!"

"That card's gonna get old really quick…" Ami rolled her eyes as the stopped next to the sleek black car that now sported a vanity plate that read, 'JINX1.'

Jenny just laughed and motioned for the two of them to climb into the Jag.

* * *

Raven sat in the corner of the common area of Titans Tower, curled up in a chair, reading a book. Troia was in the kitchen, and Beast Boy lounged nearby on the couch, flipping through the newspaper, looking for the comic strips.

The doors to the rest of the Tower swooshed open and Robin stepped out quickly. He scanned the room and took stock of the Titans present, then spoke as they all looked up at him, "There's a large drug deal going down near the shady part of the docks. Two Titans should suffice." He pointed, "Raven, you're with me. Troia, Beast Boy, stay on call."

Raven sighed, closed her book, and stood up to follow her leader.

* * *

Hanna had only returned to her apartment fifteen minutes before the knock came at her door. Muttering to herself in an agitated manner (she wanted to get an early start on her math homework) she walked over and glanced out the peephole. Arching an eyebrow, she opened the door and stared at the person outside, "Hey there Chad. How the heck did you find my address?"

"I got it from a friend." He looked nervous, "Um… can I come in? I'd like to talk to you…" he trailed off as his eyes rested on her swollen belly, "Holy shit… the rumors were true… you're pregnant!"

"I was already starting to show a little when we graduated, numb nuts." Hanna rolled her eyes and motioned Chad Doxon into her apartment, "What do you need to see me about?"

"Um… well… you know."

"Not really."

"Becka."  
"What about her?"

"Well… you know!" Chad looked frustrated.

Hanna sighed and walked to her sofa. She flopped down and arched an eyebrow at him again, "You dumped her, Chad. What else is there?"

"I just… I don't think things ended well between us, and I've been thinking a lot lately…"

"She doesn't want to get back with you Chad. That ship has sailed."

"I know! I just… I'd like to see her again. I want to start over, do this thing right."

Hanna rolled her eyes, "Right."

"I'm not really that big a jerk you know." Chad looked away and folded his arms.

"I do know that… and so does Becka. She just understands that you're not the guy for her. You really hurt her when you broke up with her the same night all those people died, half of her friends were hospitalized, one of them almost dead, and the rest of us scared shitless. All because you were too frightened of the _possibility_ that someone might come after her again."

"I'd just had my arm practically blown off!"

"Jenny took four hollow points! Ami suffered burns, broken ribs, a smashed nose, chipped vertebra… I had my nose cracked, Ginger was shot… and that's just my closer friends! You have no idea what all of us went through to keep ungrateful little fuck-twits like you alive!"

Chad shook his head, "I don't want to argue… I realize all that now… I just…" he shook his head, "I'm sorry, but I'm really curious… who'd you sleep with that got you pregnant?"

Hanna glared at him for a moment, then stood up and walked over to the door. She opened it and turned back to him, "The guy that drugged me and raped me. You can go."

Chad paled, then stuttered out, "Oh… fuck, Hanna… I didn't know… I…"

"Chad… look, give me your number. I'll talk to Becka, and if she wants to call you, she can. But coming to her best friend and asking for me to intervene on your behalf isn't going to work."

"Alright… okay." Chad pulled out a pen and grabbed an envelope for the electric bill off the table behind the couch. He jotted a number down and handed it to the blonde girl, "Here."

"Okay. Now go, Chad. Say hi to Paul and Joel for me."

"Okay…" he stopped next to her in the doorway and sighed. Leaning down, he pecked her on the cheek, "I'm sorry about asking… anyway, take care of yourself, and if you need anything…"

"I have your number." She waved it at him, "Thanks. Goodbye."

Chad nodded and walked out. Hanna shut the door and sighed, leaning against it. She looked around her apartment, then walked to her backpack. Pulling her cell out of it, she dialed a number. The other end picked up a moment later, and she smiled, "Hey, Kori. It's Hanna. Yeah… can you come over to my place? I just need someone to talk to."

* * *

Robin tossed a drug dealer across the warehouse he and Raven had ambushed and spun low a moment later, dodging a bullet and hurling a small explosive at the gunman. It blew him off his feet and into a black miasma of energy. He screamed and reappeared from the void a moment later as Raven drew her soul-self back.

As she flicked a hand and hurled a hundred pound bail of marijuana at a man who was running at her with a raised crowbar, she spoke to Robin, "Are we going to talk about it, or not?"

Robin swung his staff and blocked a baseball bat, then lashed out with a kick that sent the man reeling, "Talk about what?"

"Last night." Raven replied, "Watch your six."

"Yeah, I see him." Robin replied in a clipped tone, throwing a blind right punch behind himself, knocking the man there with a raised knife out cold, "And no, we're not going to talk about it."

"I really think we should."

"Kind of busy right now, Raven." Robin jumped up and slammed two swift kicks, one from each foot, into the face of another man, then landed and twirled into a roundhouse with his right boot, breaking the jaw of another.

Raven waved her hand and uttered, "Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos…" the van the men had been loading the drugs into lifted off the ground and was swept along like a huge club, knocking men down left and right. As Robin pinned the last conscious man and slugged him twice, Raven put the van down, "You wouldn't have asked me to come with you if you hadn't wanted to talk to me."

Robin sighed and pulled a length of rope from his belt, "Fine. What do you want to talk about?"

"Jenny."

"What about her?" Robin tied a stiff knot, securing four of the men in a bundle.

Raven was suddenly right next to him and she placed a hand on his arm. He looked over at her violet eyes and she spoke very seriously, "Why are you cheating on Kori?"

Robin looked away, "I… don't know. She and I haven't been getting along very well recently…"

"You mean you've been screaming at her every chance you get."

"Look, Jenny and I… we click so well… we think alike, and we're both human except for her hexes and stuff… Kori is just so… perfect. I almost can't see myself living up to what she deserves."

"So… you sleep with one of her friends and that makes things better how?"

"Jenny kisses your boyfriend too, you know."

"Kissed. Once. And I already know."

"And she's still alive?"

"She's not the issue here. You are. Sure, Jen's not exactly helping, but you have the power to stop this any time you want. Dick… if Kori finds out, it'll be the end of her."

"I know… I know that, I just…" Robin looked away again, "Raven… you don't understand…"

"I know I don't. I just don't want to see you get hurt… you or Jenny or Kori."

"That's what Jen said you'd say."

"She's like my sister, Robin. Of course she knows me best."

"Yeah."

The two Titans stood in silence for several moments, then set about tying the rest of the drug dealers up and calling the authorities. They didn't speak again the whole way back to the Tower.

* * *

Just as a softly humming Ami was trying to find the right key on her ring to open the security door of the apartment building she lived in, a taxi pulled up at the curb behind her and the door was opened. Looking over, the red head saw Janice stepping out with her bag, then leaning back down with a giggle as another girl leaned out and kissed her cheek. The southerner waved and the cab pulled away.

Smiling radiantly, Janice trotted up to the door and Ami, "Hey Shuga! How was ya day taday?"

Ami smiled in a bewildered kind of way, "Not bad. I met Jenny, Ginger and Maggie for lunch. Who was that girl with you?"

"Her name is Beth. I met her down at th' park taday, and shay showed me all aroun' campus." Janice pushed some hair behind one ear, "Why ya lookin' at me so funny like?"

The shorter girl shook her head, "Because you're talking like a Sister of the Revolution, Jan." She smiled, "You must have had a great day if you're speaking in Southern mode."

Janice threw a hand over her mouth, "Aw crap! Ah'm sorry Aye-me!"

"Don't worry about it!" Ami laughed, "Now come on, let's go up!"

Jan blushed a little, "Yeah." She giggled as she took Ami's keys and showed her the right security key, then opened the door and walked through. Ami's smile faded as her roommate walked in front of her, and she frowned at the taller girls back.

* * *

Starfire was giggling as Hanna hung off her shoulders, "Aw! Kori!" Hanna wailed in mock desperation, "Don't go yet! We haven't done your hair in pig-tails and put on copious amounts of makeup!"

Star gently pried her fingers off, "Hanna, you make me laugh."

"It's a talent. I wish you could stay just a little longer though." The blonde stood up straight and smiled, "I mean, we don't hang out much… just the two of us." She looked away and her smile turned sad, "It… it helps to talk to someone who…"

Star put a hand on her shoulder, "It helps me as well. I enjoy the time we spend together, Hanna. However, duty calls, and I must start my patrol of the city for the night."

"Yeah." Hanna reached over and hugged the taller girl, "Be careful out there."

"As I always am." Star hugged back (gently) then floated towards the window. "I will see you soon, Hanna Trestel."

"Yeah. See ya." Hanna waved as Star flew out the window, and shut it after herself. The blonde sighed and walked back to her sofa, where she flopped down. She debated for a moment, then picked up her cell and flipped it open. Hitting the number one speed dial, she waited for exactly three rings before the other end picked up, "_Hanna! Thought you'd forgotten about me with all that homework we got in 120 today!" _

Hanna snorted, "The day I forget about you, Becka, will be the day I completely loose my memory."

_"Aw!"_ Becka sounded happy, _"I'll never forget you either!"_

"I meant that you're so offensive to the senses that no one could ever possibly forget you."

_"Me too!"_

Hanna smiled and rolled her eyes, "Becka, I have some bad news." Hanna let her mirth fade.

_"Uh oh. It's not the baby. Hanna, if something's wrong-"_

"No! No, Becka… it's about you."

_"What?"_ Becka sounded confused. _"You're not really mad at me are you?"_

"Hunny, I love you more than my own boyfriend. No, it's just… um… Chad… came to see my today."

_"Chad? As in my ex-boyfriend Chad?"_

"Yeah."

_"Um… why?"_

"He… kinda wants to meet up with you… try to… start things up again."

_"Pff. You're making this up."_

"He gave me his number and I told him I'd pass it on to you. That's all I'm doing."

There was a long pause, then Becka spoke in a clipped tone, _"Alright. Give it to me."_

"Becka… baby… you're not mad at me are you?"

_"No… sorry. Just a little snippy. I need to call Chad and dump him again."_

"Right… get a pen."

_"Already on it."_

"Okay… 555-5476. Area code right here in Jump."

_"Is he going to JCU? I thought he was leaving the State for school."_

"No idea."

_"Huh." _

"Yeah, so…"

_"Well, I'll see you tomorrow… um… English 160 right?"_ Becka suddenly had some of her pep back.

"Yeah. You gonna be okay?"

_"Eh. I'll tell you tomorrow." _

"Okay. Be good, 'kay?"

_"Yeah, yeah. Talk to you soon."_  
"Bye."

_"Bye."_

As Hanna flipped her phone shut, she sighed and muttered, "Aw… fuck."

* * *

Starfire floated casually over the rooftops of Jump City, not even really looking below herself. She was almost completely ignoring her duty, instead taking time to think about Robin. He was a mystery to her once again, barely talking to her or screaming at her when he did. Their relationship had taken a sever down turn in the past month, and she couldn't seem to put her finger on a single event that would point to why.

It was with a distracted mind and a worried heart that she finally looked down and saw a dark form sneaking across a rooftop. At first she acted as if she hadn't seen it and turned south in an attempt to circle around and get behind it.

It was halfway through her turn that she realized the shadow wasn't moving away from her. It had turned and was moving with her. Whoever was on the roofs of Jump City was following her.

Holding true to her Tameranian nature, Starfire descended quickly and landed directly in front of the shadow, green eyes blazing. "Who are you and…" she trailed off and sighed in an exasperated manner, "Red-X."

The man with the skull mask nodded and spoke in an amused voice, "I was wondering if you'd see me at all tonight."

"It was easy when you were sneaking in the moonlight."

"You didn't notice me any of the other times."

Starfire gasped, "You've been following me?"

He laughed, "You mean you've really never noticed?"

"Infidel! Stand and meet your fate!" optic blasts scorched across the rooftop and Red-X dove out of the way. He rolled and came up with a laugh.

"That the best you've got?"

Starfire screamed as energy built around her, "For years I suffered atrocities of the worst kind, bound as a slave to save my planet from destruction! Never again will I be stalked, humiliated, or violated in any way! You, Red-X will fall this night!" Green energy exploded around the alien girl, tinged red and orange at the edges, and ripping away a large portion of the roof.

"Whoa!" Red-X dove away and leapt from the roof. He landed on another and whistled, "Sorry! Didn't mean to piss you off that much!"

"Hyg m'll!" Starfire screamed out the battle cry in her native tongue and flew at him in a burst of energy. She plowed him off the roof and right out into the air above the street. As she let him go and watched him fall, he waved and vanished in a blurring of the light around him.

Not for the first time, Starfire cursed Robin for putting a short-range teleportation device in that suit. As the energy exploded around her and half the windows in the area blew out, she growled and prepared to continue her search.

Strong arms wrapped around her and the energy blinked out as she let out a surprised 'eep!' A voice hissed in her ear, "Kori! What the hell are you doing?"

"Donna!" Star was let go and whirled around to see the tall black haired woman floating there looking shocked beyond reason.

"Star, you're in a residential area! What the in Hades name is so dangerous and terrifying that you have to unleash that kind of power?!?"

Starfire's eyes grew wide and she looked to her left. Staring out one of the windows she'd just blown out was a frightened looking girl with a cut above her left eye. Donna put a hand on Star's shoulder and shook her a little, "Go on. I'll do damage control here."

"Yes… yes, thank you… Donna."

"Go, Kori."

Starfire flew up into the sky, then blasted away in a surge of green light.

* * *

Jenny stood in the shadows of an ally way, waiting patiently for the man she was stalking to walk past. As she watched him count money from the register of the store he'd just broken into and looted, she thought about her life.

Even as a good girl, she was still remarkably bad. She was harboring a known fugitive by hanging out with Shimmer, and she was ungodly brutal in her take downs when she was out playing vigilante. She was honestly surprised Robin hadn't come and arrested her yet.

Suppressing a moan as he mind wander to the subject of the Boy Wonder, Jenny shook her head. Why she had kissed him that first night, and why she had slept with him a week and a half later was absolutely beyond her. She didn't know what she was doing, but she did know that it was wrong, and she couldn't stop herself. Maybe it was some kind of deep seated need to hurt the Titans that had her sleeping with Starfire's boyfriend, and ignoring the subject whenever Raven hinted at it.

"I'm such a fucking slut." She muttered, and stepped out of the shadows, tired of waiting for the thug to learn how to count. "Hey, buddy!" she shouted. As he turned around with wide eyes, she hurled a loose brick she'd picked up off the ground at him, pegging him square in the face. He toppled over backwards and she was there a moment later to make sure he stayed down.

"Try to be good from now on, okay?" she asked in an exasperated manner as she punched him six times in rather sensitive areas. Scooping up his loot, Jenny trotted off.

She'd only made it two blocks back towards the store when a shadow stepped in front of her from between two buildings. She stopped and stared for a second, letting her eyes take in more light to see who it was.

"Selinda?" she asked.

"Jenny… why do you do this? I know you're not trying to be a Titan, and I know that you're… well, you have an aversion to firearms now…"

"Yeah." Jenny looked away as the red haired villain walked up to her, "What brings Shimmer to this end of town this late at night?"

"I wanted to see if you'd given my proposal any thought."

"I haven't yet, no."

"Too bad." Shimmer shrugged, "If you do, and you want some details, just give me a call. You have my number."

"Yeah." Jinx said again and looked back up at her, "I have to finish this up, then get home."

"Sure." Shimmer reached out and pulled a five dollar bill out of the wad Jen was holding and held it up for her to see, "Just remember, this is chump change next to what we'd be making." Her eyes grew cold, and the bill suddenly turned into sandstone in her hand. She glared at Jenny, "And remember what will happen to you if you rat me out to the Titans." She flicked the stone bill away and it shattered when it hit the ground.

Jenny stared at the bits of stone and dust for a moment, and when she looked up, Shimmer was gone.

"Right…" Jenny ran a hand through her hair and took off at a jog for the store she was returning the money to.

* * *

As soon as Starfire walked into the common area of Titans Tower, Robin was out of his seat at the computer and stalking towards her, "Star! I've got reports of Troia calming people and repairing damage to half the buildings in your patrol area! What the hell is going on?"

"I… my powers were… far to magnified…"

"Oh, you think?" the raven haired young man snorted, "Are you insane? What the hell was out there?"

"Red-X. He was stalking me." Star looked frightened and alone.

Robin apparently didn't notice, "Red-X is a thief and an annoyance, but he doesn't exactly rate that level of power, Star! You could have killed someone!"

"But… Richard…"

"Don't 'But Richard' me Star! You need to get a grip and-"

A resounding slap cracked across the room, and Robin stood in shock with his head tilted to one side. Starfire glowered at him, he hand still raised in the back swing. Tears of anger, shame, and rage filled her eyes, "You… you…" she shook her head, "You are nothing but a fool, Richard. I am frightened, and worried, and all you can do is reprimand me? You have no pity, no concern, and no respect for me. So do not dare… _do not dare_ tell _me_ that _I_ need to _get a grip_." Star turned away from him, "X'hal… why do I put up with you?"

"Star… Kori… I…." Robin trailed off and looked at the ground, thankful that she hadn't slapped his head clean off, "I'm sorry."

"I do not know if that is enough this time, Richard."

"I…"

"I don't wish to speak with you right now. I will see you in the morning." And she flew off.

Robin turned away slowly and looked across the room. Raven was sitting in her corner, reading a book. She hadn't looked away from it the whole time the two young lovers were arguing. After a few moments, she said, "Well… that went well."

Robin growled at her and rubbed his cheek, "Shut up."

* * *

Paul Stupmt was suddenly sure he was the luckiest man in the world. Or at least in Jump City. After all, how often did hot, young chicks walk up to him in the bar his gang hung out in and talk to him for all of ten minutes before asking him to take her into the bathroom and fuck her?

As he crushed his mouth to hers, he groped for the hem of her skirt, yanking it up and trying to get his fingers hooked into the straps of her thong so he could pull it off of her. Giving up on her underwear for a moment, he let his hands wander up her body to her breasts.

They were great breasts. In fact, everything about the girl was great. The way her hips swayed, like she knew how to fuck, her full lips, her pert breasts, her long legs, her ice blue eyes, her flowing white hair-

Paul's eyes grew wide as a piercing pain exploded through his neck and brain. He gagged once before the girl twisted the small penknife in the base of his neck and severed his spinal column from his brain. She quickly lowered him to the ground and started carving into his body with the knife, writing something in the rents in his flesh.

As his mind began to fade, he blinked up at her. She'd said her name was Miss Wilson. She's said she'd wanted to fuck him. She'd said… she'd said…

* * *

An hour later, another member of the Bay Street Bangers gang found Paul Stupmt's body in the bathroom stall with the words 'East End Rollers fuck you up!' carved into his chest and stomach.

A half hour after that, he and nine of his closest friends were packing heat and headed for the East End to represent and get revenge.

As they walked to four parked cars, shouting and cheering each other on, two dark forms watched them go from the top of the bar the gang used as an unofficial headquarters. Both figures were dressed in dark black and rust orange body suits with masks.

The larger of the two had a full mask, exposing only one eye. The smaller figure wore a half mask that left her face exposed from the bottom of her nose down. The female turned to the male and spoke, "Is this reaction part of your plan, Daddy?"

"It is, Rose."

"Hmm."

"Is there something wrong?"

"Not really. That bastard was just rough with me. It felt good to kill him… I just wish I could have done it in a way that was more painful."

"All in good time. All in good time."

"So, Deathstroke… do we follow?"

"No. We have more important things to do… Ravager."

* * *

Closing Notes: And all of you were wondering what happened to Rose! Look for plenty of drama coming up soon, and watch for the humor to finally return to this sad, depressing story in the next chapter. Until then, you know what to do… review! 


	3. Forks in the Road

Ties That Bind

A Teen Titans Fan Fiction by Jake McDonald

Opening Notes: More set up for the major plot points in this chapter. Look for the subtle hints of things to come… they're all over.

Standard disclaimers apply. I don't own Teen Titans.

* * *

Forks in the Road

* * *

"Are you sure you want to go out all by yourself today?" Speedy grinned slyly as he stared across the bedroom at Raven. The sheets of the bed were pulled up to his waist, revealing only his naked torso where he lay with his arms folded up behind his head.

Raven threw a semi-annoyed look at her boyfriend. She sat at her vanity, naked, brushing out her still damp hair from her recent shower. "Yes, Roy. I haven't seen any of my normal friends in almost a week."

"Oh, your _normal_ friends." Speedy grinned wider, "We not good enough for you at the Tower?"

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah, but I can't help ribbing you about it. You just make it sound like we're a bunch of freaks around here."

"Roy, we _are_ a bunch of freaks around here." Raven rolled her eyes and reached for a bra.

"Aw! Don't put clothes on!"

Raven had to grin, "I never like doing it while you're around, baby, but you know it's only polite when going out in public to not let your huge boobs bounce around."

"I _like_ watching your huge boobs bounce around."

"Yeah, mine and Donna's."

Roy blushed a little and scratched his nose, "You, uh, noticed that huh?"

"Hun, there's very little that goes on around here that I don't notice. Now please, shut up and let me dress."

"If you insist. I'll just sit here and enjoy the view." He let his eyes roam her shapely backside.

"You do that." Raven grinned as she reached for the rest of her clothes.

* * *

Becka sighed as she flopped down on a bench next to Hanna in the middle of main campus at JCU. "Hey."

"What's up?" Hanna had her cell out and was flipping through names.

"Not much. You?"

"Thinking about calling my boy. Haven't seen him in a while."

"Hmm."

There was a two minute pause, then Hanna spoke again, "You haven't called Chad yet, have you?"

Becka moaned and buried her face in her hands, "No."

"Hun, it was a week ago that I gave you the number. You said you were going to call him right then, and-"

"I know what I said, Hanna."

"Just saying."

"I know, I know." Becka sighed, "He's such a jerk."

"You still like him." Hanna sighed and flipped her phone shut with a _snap!_ "Sweetie, call him and make a date."

"No! We totally broke up 'cause he was an ass! I'm not gonna take him back now just cause he's all… _sorry_ and stuff. He'll just be an ass again later, and then we'll break up again, and then he'll be sorry again, and then we'll get back together again, then he'll be an ass again-"

"I get the picture." Hanna rolled her eyes, "And despite your overly exaggerated worst case scenario, there _is_ the possibility he could really want to try and make things work between the two of you. Becka, you're eighteen now, and so is he… time to act like adults."

"Says the girl who wont be eighteen for two months yet…"

It was Hanna's turn to moan, "I _really_ hope I'm an adult before my baby is born…"

"Who's having a baby?" Ami leaned over their heads and stared down at them, "Oh, you. That's right."

"You're so sweet, Ami." Hanna swatted at her, "Stop staring down my shirt. What has Jan been teaching you?"

Ami grinned and walked around in front of them, "I'd tell you, but I don't think you really want to know."

"Gag. No thanks." Becka rolled her eyes, "I have class again in fifteen. You guys?"

Ami shook her head, "Thursdays are light for me. I'm already done."

Hanna nodded, "I'm going to do some homework yet before I call Gar, but I'm done for the day too."

"You guys suck."

"Feh." Hanna shook her head, "At least you don't have Friday classes."

"There is that." Becka shrugged and stood up, grabbing her backpack; "I'll see you kids later. We should all get together this weekend."

"Definitely." Ami nodded, "My place is open."

"Great!" Becka smiled broadly, "Haven't had the whole gang together in a while. I'll call Jenny and Cassie."

"Sweet." Ami bobbed her head, then frowned, "Wow… we're talking about them like they're completely normal friends…"

"Ami, sweetie…" Hanna smiled up at her, then over at Becka, "They _are_ completely normal friends."

* * *

Raven walked through the common area of Titans Tower wearing baggy black pants with bondage straps on the legs and red trim around the seams, and a black tank top accented by her amethyst necklace. She was digging in her black leather purse for lip balm when a strong voice carried to her from the computers, "Going out?"

The dark girl paused and looked over to where Robin was glaring at her from the computer banks. She scowled back at him, "Yes. I have no pressing duties here."

"I know. Will you see Jenny?"

"Maybe."

"If you do, tell her to be careful around her place. Gang violence has increased in that area by 300 in the last week."

Raven arched an eyebrow, "Don't you find that a little odd?"

"I'm looking in to it. I have Roy and Donna working it today."

"Fine. Tell Roy to be careful."

"I will… and Raven?"

"Yes?"

"I'm… I'm sorry. For being such a jerk lately."

"Does this mean you'll be having a little talk with Jenny too?"

"I don't know." He looked away, "Probably."

"Don't just avoid her. She's your friend too, Dick."

"I know. I'll… I'll talk to her once I work things out with Kori."

"Sure." Raven rolled her eyes, "It's been a week since she last spoke to you, Dick. Maybe you should actually pull your nose out of crime reports and go find her."

Robin didn't answer, but she could sense his guilt. Shaking her head, Raven turned away and walked towards the elevator to the garage, "I may be able to forgive you easily, Richard, but Kori was hurt pretty badly. It's going to take some work, but you can do it. I have faith in you."

Robin smiled a little and looked up to thank her. By the time he did though, the shadows in the room were returning to normal, and Raven was gone.

* * *

Janice giggled softly as Beth braided her hair. They were sitting in a movie theater with almost no one else present, while a bad matinee played across the screen. They whispered back and forth a hushed conversation.

"Is your roommate really that tough?" Beth asked.

"Well, I can't say I don't know girls that couldn't kick more ass then her, but then, I hang out with people who've had years of hardcore training." Janice tilted her head to the side and let Beth get the braid tighter.

"Really? What kind of training?"

"Well, I have this friend Jenny… she's the toughest chick I know. She's actually a reformed HIVE kid… terrorist training and the whole nine yards."

"Really?" Beth seemed a little freaked out, "That's… scary."

"Not really." Janice's eyes misted over, "She almost died this past February."

"What happened?"

"She… she was protecting a bunch of us at the Valentines Day Dance at out high school… she got shot four times… once in the heart."

"Holy… and she lived though that?"

"Like I said, she's tough."

"I'll say… good thing you're going to be a doctor, huh?"

"Yeah… with all the injuries my friends incur? Hell, Hanna is pregnant for crying out loud."

"Oh! I love babies!"

"She was raped." Janice deadpanned.

Beth gasped again, "Ohmygod! I'm sorry! I didn't-"

"It's okay." Janice shook her head and pulled the unfinished braid away from Beth's hands, "You didn't know."

"Yeah… I just… Janice?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I kiss you?"

Janice's eyes grew wide, and her brain seemed to boil for a moment, then she nodded slowly, "Yeah." Her southern accent came back in force, "Ah reckin Ah'd like that very much."

Beth smiled in a sexy manner and leaned in, pressing her lips to Jan's. It only took four seconds for them to turn it into an open mouthed kiss.

It was only another three seconds before they started groping each other.

* * *

Jenny slammed her fist into her punching bag and backed up as it swung away from her. Cursing, she bent down and grabbed the chain that held it to the floor so it _wouldn't_ swing and yanked the link off that had broken. Frowning at it, she stood and walked over to a bench on the far side of the room where she retrieved a tool box so she could fix it.

Ten minutes later, she was pummeling the bag once more. It was the fifth link she'd broken that day, after only an hour's worth of workout time. For some reason, all her pent up aggression was coming out on the poor exercise equipment.

As she pumped her fists into the bag, Jen thought about her predicament. Selinda's deadline was the next day, and it was time to announce her intentions. Was she in or out? Add to that the fact that Robin hadn't so much as called to ask her how she was doing since the last time they'd had sex, and Jenny was one confused, pissed off young woman.

"Fuck." She swore as she stepped back from the bag, "What the hell do I care? It's not like he's my boyfriend or anything…"

"Which is what we need to talk about."

Jenny whirled around, taking up a fighting stance, but relaxing when she saw a familiar dark form in the corner, "Cassie. You scared me."

"Habit." The Titan shrugged, "Can we talk in your room?"

Jenny was silent for a moment, then nodded slowly, "Yeah… yeah I think we have to."

"Good." Raven motioned with one hand and they moved to the main room of Jenny's home, where they both settled on the bed. Raven kicked off her open toed sandals and curled her legs under herself, while Jenny grabbed a towel to mop the sweat off of herself and flopped down on her back, staring at the ceiling.

"So?" Raven asked, one eyebrow arched.

"What?"

"Care to explain yourself?"

"Stop trying to act like my parent, Cassie."

"Sorry. I just think I deserve a little bit of something here."

"You want to know why I seduced Robin, and why I've been fucking him for the past two months?"

"Yeah. That'd be a good start." Raven smiled faintly.

Jenny sighed, "I don't know. I just… he's such a great guy, and he's been so good to me since I was hurt… he visited me almost every day in the hospital, and then when I got out, he was the one who really tried to _talk_ to me about my fears and how I was doubting myself so much…"

"So… you fell in love?"

"Not really. I just… he mention one night about his sex life with Kori, and how it had lagged off… and I just… helped."

Raven actually laughed, "You helped?"

"I gave him the best blowjob of his life, then fucked him silly. Is that more specific for you?" Jen turned an annoyed glance at her 'sister.'

Raven shook her head, "Jenny… you have to stop it. You don't love him, and he's trying to work things out with Kori now… because he loves _her_. Very, very much."

"I _know_ that. I just… I guess I was starting to form an emotional attachment that I shouldn't have… not to a man like him anyway." Raven was silent and Jenny looked up at her eyes, "When I talk to him next, I'll tell him we can't do it anymore."

"Good. And if Kori doesn't find out, that'd be great. I don't know if any of us could stop her if she got that pissed off." Raven smiled weakly.

"Yeah." Jenny fidgeted, then blurted out, "I kissed Roy too."

Raven stared at her for a moment, then shrugged, "I know."

"I'm sorry! I-" Jenny cut herself off, "Wait. You know?"

"I've known since the night it happened. He was feeling so guilty when he got back to the Tower that it was hard to miss."

"Aw, fuck." Jenny buried her face in the pillow she was lying on, "I'm _so_ sorry."

"Feh." Raven waved a hand, "Your boobs aren't big enough to keep my man around."

Jenny rolled over and laughed out loud, "Only you could not be pissed about this." She stared at the ceiling, debating her next move in the conversation. Should she tell Raven about-

"Jenny?" Raven asked softly. The pink eyed girl looked over with wide eyes, sure the Titan was reading her mind. As was usual with Raven, she was only half right, "Why are you so scared? What's frightened you so badly?"

Wide eyes still staring, Jenny opened her mouth, a look of true fear crossing her features. She started to blurt everything out, started to say what Raven needed to hear so she could put a stop to Shimmer and her new friends before they hurt someone…

But before she could, gunfire erupted right outside the door to the outside.

Jenny screamed and covered her head with her hands, falling off one side of the bed and huddling down on the floor, taking whatever cover she could. "Don't let them hurt me Cassie!" she wailed, "Don't let them hurt me!"

Raven was shocked by Jinx's reaction. She'd known that her not-sister had developed a fear of guns, but she didn't know that the psychosis ran so deep. Even the sound of gunfire was sending her into a panic, turning her into a sobbing mess.

"Shhh." Raven slipped off the bed and rubbed the pink eyed girl's back, "Don't worry Jenny. They can't hurt you when I'm here. I wont let them."

"Cassie…" Jinx turned her tear soaked face to Raven and pressed it into her chest, wrapping her arms around the other girl as she did, "I'm… so scared. I don't want to die… I don't want to die…"

Raven hugged her back and held her tightly. The waves of terror that Jenny was pouring forth were shocking, but Raven could tell the difference between this and the fear her best friend had been emanating before. There was something else that she was afraid of… or more specifically, something she was afraid to tell Raven herself.

Violet eyes narrowing, Raven muttered, "It's gonna be okay, Jenny. We'll talk, and we'll work everything out."

"You should…" Jenny struggled to get a hold of her self as more shots were fired outside, "You need to go stop those people… gang bangers have been tearing up the streets around here lately. They're killing people…"

"I know. I'll stop this fight, but we need to talk more when I come back… take a shower, lie down and rest, and think about what you want to talk about."

Jenny was silent for a moment, then nodded into her friends chest, "Okay."

"Okay." Raven pulled away from Jen and stood up. Holding her hands out to her sides, she floated off the ground and became a glowing black bird of prey made up of sinister looking energy. Raven's soul-self form flew straight up, through the ceiling.

"God…" Jenny ran a hand over her face, "Why am I so… weak?"

* * *

As Ami stepped up to her door and pulled out her keys to unlock it, it opened from the inside. The red head jumped a little and looked up, "Jan?"

Standing before her was a brunet girl taller than she was (not that hard) with a skirt that fell to her knees and a t-shirt that proclaimed 'Princess.' Ami noticed not only that she was looking down her nose like she smelled something unpleasant, but that she didn't seem at all surprised to see the red head.

Oh, and she was _hot_.

"Um…" Ami stuttered for a second, "Who are you?"

"I'm Beth. Hasn't Janice mentioned me?"

"Oh, yeah!" Ami smiled, "Nice to meet you! I was wondering when we'd get to hang out."

"Well, that wont be today." Beth smiled in that sickly sweet way Ginger Hamilton used to, and stepped past Ami, digging in her purse for a tube of light pink lipstick, "I have someplace to be."

"Oh… okay." Ami didn't like the vibe the taller girl was giving off, "I'll see you around then sometime… maybe this weekend?"

"We'll see." Beth waved, "Ciao."

"Yeah, later." The petite red head watched her walk down the steps, then turned and walked into her apartment. Tossing her bag aside by the door and walking to the middle of the living room, she called out, "Janice?"

"Hey there shuga'!" Jan walked into the living room from the bedroom with a grin a mile wide, "You just missed Beth!"

"I ran into her on the way in." Ami smiled nervously. Janice was wearing loose boxer shorts and a white t-shirt. It was rather apparent that she wasn't wearing a bra, "Um… ready for bed?"

"I just wanted to change into something comfy." Janice had once again mastered her accent so that it was faint, but still audible. She walked over and leaned down to Ami, kissing her cheek, "Ya' have a nice day?"

"Yep." Ami noticed an odd smell, but smiled broadly as Janice stood up, "I chatted with Becka and Hanna… we were thinking that the Second Floor Girls should have a little reunion this weekend… drag Jenny out of the ghetto and Cassie out of the Tower and have a real party."

Janice stepped back and grinned, "Sounds like fun! Saturday?"

"That's what we thought too."

"Awesome! We can have a slumber party!"

"Yeah." Ami nodded, "I'm going to go change too… you making dinner tonight?"

"Sure am. How's Chicken Fried Steak sound?"

"Like you're going to make me fat with all your southern cooking."

"Well, you could use a few pounds." Janice winked, "Go on, I'll start, and you can help after you've had a few minutes to relax."

"Thanks." Ami nodded and the two parted, Janice walking to the kitchen, and Ami walking down the hall to the bedrooms. As she walked, Ami's smile faded away. She paused between the rooms, one door on either side of her, and debated for a silent moment. With a glance over her shoulder, Ami quickly darted into Janice's room and walked to the vanity. She looked over the supplies there for a moment, then picked a bottle of perfume out. "Sunflowers." She muttered.

Then why had Janice smelled like Vera Wang?

Ami's eyes narrowed and she looked over at the bed. The sheets were rumpled, and the pillows were tossed aside. Walking over, Ami sniffed the bed and found the same alien perfume there.

"Janice…" she whispered, then covered her mouth with one hand. She quickly backed out of her roommate's room and dashed into her own. She shut the door softly, then ran to her own bed, where she hurled herself violently.

Ami buried her face in her pillow and produced a muffled scream.

* * *

Robin stood outside Starfire's room and stared at the door. He'd been rooted to the same spot for almost twenty minutes, trying to decide what to say when he knocked, but he was drawing a total blank. How did one apologize for being the worlds biggest ass and then apologize for cheating all in the same breath?

Deciding he was just going to totally wing it, Robin raised a hand to knock.

And froze.

"Crap." He muttered.

"Having problems?" Robin turned his head to see Cyborg walking down the hall, having just come out of his lab, "Talking to Star I mean."

"Yeah." Robin shook his head, "I'll blunder through it somehow… if I can get myself into situations like this by being a total idiot, I can get myself out the same way."

"Whatever man. Just don't flip out." Cy shrugged, "I'm out. Gonna head into town."

"For what?" Robin lowered his hand and arched an eyebrow.

"Gonna stop by STAR Labs and see if they have the power core parts I ordered a month ago. I think I'll stop by and see Jenny too." If Cyborg noticed Robin's wince, he didn't show it, "I haven't seen her in a few weeks and with all that increased gang violence around her I think she could use a friend."

"Yeah, Raven went over there earlier." Robin turned to his team mate, "Cy… um…"

"I don't have any advice for you about Kori, Dick."

"That's okay, I just-"

"I've gotta head out. Is it something quick?"

"Vic look… about Jenny…" Robin trailed off and stared at Cyborg with an anxious gaze, nervousness and tension evident in every part of his body, "I… she…"

"Dick?" Cyborg looked mildly concerned, "What's up? What about Jen?"

Robin stared for a moment longer, then turned away, "Just tell her to be careful, and remind her that if she needs any weapons or gadgets to keep safe, to just call us."

Cy studied his team leader for a moment, then nodded slowly, "Sure thing… you sure you're okay?"

"Vic… I haven't been okay in weeks. I'll manage though." Robin threw a weak smile at his friend, "Go on. I'll see you later."

"Sure." Cy nodded again, then walked down the hall to the elevator. Pausing, he turned back, "If you ever need someone to talk to… well… you know."

"Yeah. Thanks Vic." Robin smiled a true smile this time.

"Alright then." Cyborg smiled back and stepped on the lift. As soon as the doors shut, Robin turned back to Star's door and sighed heavily. Raising a fist, he knocked loudly.

* * *

Raven looked on from an ally way as the police finished arresting the seven gang members she'd stopped from killing each other. It hadn't been hard to scare them all into pissing themselves and dropping their weapons, but it still troubled her that the violence of the mini-gang war had pushed this far towards the city proper.

"We'll have to stop this soon." She muttered, and turned to teleport back to Jenny's apartment. As she did, he com started to buzz in her pocket. With a sigh, she pulled it out and flipped it open, "Yes?"

"Raven?" it was Tara, "Hey, you got a minute?" The blonde girl looked stressed over the video connection, so Raven sighed once more and nodded, "Sure. I'll be right over."

* * *

Tara looked up at Raven from her couch anxiously, "You're going to think I'm stupid."

"Not any stupider than I already think you are." Raven grinned.

"Funny. Which one of us is going to collage?"

"Whatever. What's the problem?" Raven arched an eyebrow.

Tara took a deep breath, "I, uh… met a boy."

"Good for you."

"He's in my English class, and he's really good looking, and I think I might like him… a lot."

"Okay…" Raven motioned with a hand.

"Well… I just got out of a year long relationship that didn't end well, and… I don't know… could you like… scan me while I'm hanging out with him and see if I really like him or if I'm just crazy?"

"Tara…" Raven rubbed her temples, "You're right. I think you're being stupid."

"Raven!"

"Look… I'm not going to stalk you on a date just to tell you if you like a boy or not."

"But what if I'm going all… wacko! Like I did…" Tara looked away, "Like I did when I betrayed you guys."

"You were a different person then. Literally. You have a whole new memory now, Tara. You're going to act and think differently." Raven placed a hand on her seated friend's shoulder from where she stood in front of her.

"Yeah… sure." Tara looked up with worried blue eyes, "He mentioned he just graduated from WJCIE too… I was going to see if you knew him."

"I might." Raven shrugged, "What's his name?"

"Chad." Tara replied, "Chad Doxen."

Raven stared down at her for a moment, then sat down next to her on the couch holding her head in her hands, "I know I'm a half demon… but why does God hate me so much?"

* * *

Beast Boy sat in Hanna's apartment on the couch, flipping channels on the TV, "Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yes, Gar, I'm sure." Hanna replied from where she sat on the floor next to the coffee table, doing her math homework, "I know you've had a long week, and I have too. Let's just chill here tonight."

"Alright." BB smiled at his girlfriend, "You want me to make you some dinner?"

"Uh… no." Hanna shook her head, "We'll order out. Chinese maybe."

"Pff." Beast Boy waved a hand, "You're missing out on some great tofu surprise."

"From what I hear, that's not a bad thing."

"You've been talking to Cy, haven't you?"

"I've been talking to everyone… except Kori, who loves the stuff. Says it reminds her of home, which I hear is also something to be wary of."

Beast Boy actually laughed at that, "I guess."

Hanna wrote in a few numbers, then sat back, "All done. I hate math."

"Sweet. Want to play Scrabble?"

"Only if you stop trying to make up words."

"Hey! Ownage is totally a word!"

"Only in your sick little HALO universe." Hanna stuck out her tongue, "Besides, isn't it spelled with a 'P'?"

"Yeah, yeah." BB reached under the coffee table and pulled the game out. As he went about setting it up, Hanna looked over at the far wall, where a framed picture from graduation hung, depicting all the girls.

"Hey, Gar?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you talked to Cassie today?"

"Who? Oh, Raven. No, why?"

"Just… haven't seen her in a while. It's like she's avoiding us."

"She's been busy." Beast Boy shrugged, "We all have."

"Yeah, I guess. I haven't seen Jenny in a week either though."

"No clue what's up with her. The few times I've seen her in the past month or so she's been really moody. Won't even laugh at my lamest jokes."

"I noticed that too… do you think living all alone in that bad part of town is getting to her?"

"Could be." Beast Boy spread the letters out inside the box top and picked out seven of them. "Maybe it just reminds her a lot of what life used to be like for her… the hideouts the HIVE kids had were never that great."

"Not a huge tower in the bay with every amenity known to man, huh?"

"Heh. Nope." As he looked over his letters while Hanna picked hers out, he cursed softly, "Never anything good the first time."

"Sucks to be you. I'll go first then."

"Cool." Beast Boy watched as Hanna spelled out 'C-O-V-E-R-S' on the board and totaled up her score. "You know… Robin's been really out of sorts lately too… he screamed at Star so badly that they haven't spoken in a week."

"Seems like everyone's having problems except for us, huh?" Hanna smiled over at her boyfriend.

"Yeah." BB put down his letters and looked up at her with a soft grin. Reaching over, he took her hand and she rubbed her thumb across the back of his hand.

As they sighed and lost themselves in their own personal thoughts, the scrabble board stared up at them.

Beast Boy's letters spelled out, 'L-O-V-E.'

* * *

Robin sighed and banged his head against the door, "Kori… please open the door?"

The muffled response came for the twentieth time, "I do not wish to speak with you."

"I know you don't want to Kori, but you need to. We can't keep avoiding each other."

The door suddenly opened and Starfire glared out at him. She spoke in a scathing tone, "_We_ have not been avoiding each other. _I_ have been avoiding _you_."

"Well, you need to stop." Robin rolled his eyes behind his mask.

"And you think you have the right to tell me what to do?"

"Kori, I think I have the right to explain myself."

"Richard." Starfire looked him in the eye, "If you are going to explain yourself, you should know that just saying you are sorry will not help you."

"I know that. Though I am sorry."

"Very well. Speak." Starfire waved a hand and glared.

Robin took a deep breath, "I've been… under a lot of stress lately. There's things going on… things that I can't tell _anyone_ about. And it weighs on me. It's a burden that I'm being forced to carry, and I've been taking out my frustration on you."

"Richard." Starfire stopped him, "Take off your mask."

Robin didn't hesitate to reach up and do so. Staring at her with naked blue eyes, he blinked. "Good." She continued, "Now look me in the eye and tell me that these things you can not tell anyone about, are _truly_ things you can not tell anyone about."

Robin looked her right in the eye, "Kori, it would destroy this team."

"You seem so sure of that." Star's eyes softened by half a degree, "What are you so worried about? Richard… if you were to let me share your burden…"

"I can't." he looked away, "I'm sorry for that. And I'm sorry for acting the way I have towards you. It's been uncalled for."

"There you are correct."

"Can you ever forgive me?"

Starfire nodded, "Yes. In time."

Robin looked up with pain in his eyes, "Kori… please…"

"For now, Richard, I will take my leave. The city needs to be patrolled, and I think I should like to do so alone this night."

Robin looked at her in a sad manner, "Okay. I'll let the others know they can have the night off. But call if you need help."

"I will. Goodbye, Richard." Star floated up off the ground and past him, "Try to rest, and perhaps we will speak more in the morning."

"Okay." Robin nodded miserably. "I'll see you then."

Star just nodded as she flew off down the hall. Robin watched her go, then stepped away from her still open door, letting it shut automatically. He kicked the wall in frustration, "Fuck."

* * *

Cyborg walked up to the door of Jenny's apartment and knocked loudly. After a few minutes of waiting, he frowned and tried the knob. Finding it locked, he hit a button and a compartment on his leg opened. He reached in and pulled out a key ring, then began flipping through the keys. Finding the ones he wanted, he went to work opening the multiple deadbolts.

As soon as the door was opened, Cy stepped in and shut it, re-locking it behind himself. Turning, he let his eyes sweep the dwelling, taking in the vanity, the sofa off to one side, the small kitchen, the bed with the clothes tossed on it haphazardly, and finally the bathroom door, where Jenny stood with a towel up drying her hair, staring at him with wide eyes.

Stark naked.

"Oh. Uh…" Cyborg was half mechanical, but the half that wasn't machine was defiantly an eighteen year old young man. As his human eye trailed down to Jenny's breasts, his red optic automatically kicked on, recording every detail for review later.

Jenny lowered her hands from her hair and hissed in a menacing manner. As Cy watched, her eyes flared with pink energy, and the towel blew off her head as her hair flew up into points, pushed by some force that was beyond natural.

"Oh… fuck." He had time to utter before the waves of pink energy slammed into him.

* * *

Ami stepped out into the apartment living room wearing short shorts and a tight baby tee that highlighted her slim figure. She stared across the room to the open kitchen, where Janice was busily humming to herself as she made dinner. The dark haired girl was grinning broadly and giggled to herself every now and then.

Ami sucked in her breath, and slapped a hand over her mouth, forcing back the waves of emotion that were washing through her. She started for the kitchen, but paused at a wall mirror above the telephone table next to the bathroom off the living room, and checked her eyes to make sure the redness from the crying was gone. Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the kitchen stealthily and snuck up behind her roommate.

As Janice cracked an egg into her batter mix, Ami stuck a finger into either side of the southern girl's torso, tickling her ribs mercilessly. Janice shrieked and jumped away, laughing hard, "Ami! The hell was that?"

Ami forced a grin, "Just reminding you who the sneaky one around here is!"

There was a half second of fear that flashed in Janice's eyes, but she was normal quicker than anyone could tell.

Anyone except her best friend and roommate for the past four years, that is.

Ami turned away as he lip started to quiver again, but forced out a normal tone of voice, "So what can I do to help with dinner?"

Janice hugged her from behind, "Why don't you let me make dinner? Tell me about your day."

Ami briefly considered shoving the taller girl off of her, but threw the idea out as soon as it entered her head. Reaching up, she gripped Janice's arms and pulled her closer, "It was long… and I really just need a good hug right now. From my best friend."

"Any time you want a good hug, Ami, I'm always here for you."

"I know." Ami closed her eyes and lost herself in the feel of the woman she loved, "I know, Jan."

* * *

Cyborg sat on the floor of Jenny's apartment, using his finger welder to fix the paneling on his right leg, "Man… way to blow my servos, Jen."

"You're lucky I didn't blow your head clean off." Jenny was now wearing a fluffy looking robe and sitting cross-legged on her bed, glaring at him, "Ever hear of knocking, Vic?"

"I did knock!"

"What, once?"

"Well… yeah…"

"Jesus Christ…" Jen rolled her eyes, "Why are you here anyway?"

Cy looked over at her with hurt in his eyes, "I haven't seen you in weeks. I thought we had a kind of thing going there for a while."

Jenny nodded and looked away, "Yeah… sorry."

"For what?"

"For avoiding you like that… I've been… dealing with some stuff."

"What kind of stuff?" Cy put away his welder and stood up. He walked over and sat down next to her on the bed.

Jenny leaned into him, "Just stuff… stuff that had to do with me turning down the Titan membership."

"Ah." Cy was silent for a moment, then he spoke again, "Are you doing okay? I mean, with all the increased gang violence in the area?"

"Mostly… there was some gunfire pretty close today, but Raven was over so she stopped it. I… I had a really nasty anxiety attack… I couldn't get out from behind my bed for a half hour… even the sound of gun shots scares the crap out of me."

"You have good reason."

"Everyone keeps telling me that."

"It's true."

"It's not." Jenny shook her head and frowned, "It's an excuse."

"Jenny…"

"No, Vic." Jenny sat up off of him and looked away once more, "If I'm ever going to get past this, I need to confront it."

"Now hold on… please don't tell me you're thinking about going out there and jumping in the line of fire just so you can get over your fear of guns."

Jenny stood up on her bed and bonked him on the head, "I'm not that stupid, Vic. No, I've got another way to do it."

"Really? How's that?"

"It's a secret."

"Huh?"

"Don't worry about it." Jenny grinned and jumped off the bed, "Now come on. You have to go so I can get dressed and make myself some food. I've got a busy night ahead of me."

"Sure." Cy rolled his good eye, "Whatever."

"Like I said, don't worry about it. This is something I have to do on my own." Jenny pulled him to his feet, then jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. He looked mildly shocked for a moment, then she kissed him.

After a few seconds she let go and dropped to the ground, "Thanks for giving me a little confidence boost."

"I… uh… wow." Cy grinned, "What'd I do?"

"You were here, and that's enough." Jenny winked, "Now get lost and let me put some clothes on."

"Alright. Just be careful, whatever it is you're going to do."

"I will." Jenny nodded and watched him walk to the door, "Oh, Vic?"

"Yeah?" he paused and looked over his shoulder at her.

"I miss you too."

He smiled back at her, and nodded. Unlocking the door once more, Cy stepped out and shut it, relocking it from the outside.

Jenny waited until the final lock was clicked shut before she walked over to the door that led to the workout room. Opening it, she stepped in and looked around until she saw Shimmer lounging on the weight bench, reading a book. The red head looked over and arched an eyebrow.

"Alright." Jenny nodded, "I'm in."

* * *

Raven sat with her head still in her hands, "Tara… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have even said anything."

Tara threw her hands up as she paced the living room, "Raven! He's hot for some other chick! And he's been sending me all these signals! Doesn't that worry you? I mean, your friend Becka is going to have her heart broken by this dude!"

"You forget who you're talking to, Tara." Raven looked up with slightly glowing eyes, "I can sense how much he loves her."

Tara stopped and looked at her, "Stop it. Your creepy eyes don't work on me."

Raven let her powers fade, "I can also tell you're truly upset about this. Don't be. Chad, as confused as he is about his relationship with Becka, is a fine young man."

Tara actually cracked a smile, "You sound like an old lady."

"Well this old lady had sex for three hours last night with a red haired stud who knows exactly how to please in the most extensive and best feeling ways possible." Raven stuck out her tongue, "So nea."

"Real mature." Tara took a step back and flopped down on an inflatable chair that was sitting behind her, "Still, I had my hopes all up, and now I'm depressed."

"Sorry." Raven shrugged.

"No you're not." Tara smiled anyway, "All these close calls though… I know no one is supposed to know about you and me hanging out like this except for Robin, but don't you think that maybe… we should just tell them? Especially Beast Boy."

Raven rolled her eyes, "Don't think I missed the spike in your arousal and romantic feelings when you mentioned Beast Boy. He's devoted to Hanna." Raven frowned, "Stop trying to steal other girl's men, Tara. And remind me to never introduce you to Speedy."

"Pff." Tara waved a hand at her chest, "I don't think I can compete with you in what he's looking for."

"Shush." Raven smiled as she stood up, "Now if we're done here, I have work to do."

"Aw! I thought you said you had today off!"

"I do. I have some research to do back at the Tower though."

"For what?"

"For enchanting a pain killing talisman."

"What for?"

"Hanna will be having a baby soon… I'm just trying to help."

Tara blinked then smiled, "Okay… and if you ever decide to let me meet your friends, I want to meet her first. She sounds way cool."

"She is. I think you'd get along if you wouldn't be constantly hitting on her boyfriend." Raven grinned as darkness gathered around her.

"You're such a bitch." Tara smiled and waved, "Have fun." As soon as Raven vanished, Tara sighed and kicked back in her inflatable chair, "Maybe I'll go catch a flick or something…"

She let out a small scream as the chair flipped over backwards.

* * *

Ami rushed down the street of the East End and looked over her shoulder nervously. She had seen the police reports of the increased gang violence in the area of course, but she had needed to get out of her apartment more than anything. Janice was acting so happy, and it had started to piss her off. She needed to punch something, and Jenny had all the things she needed for that.

The red haired girl paused as gun fire erupted on the other side of the block from her, then put her head down and ran. She cursed under her breath as she dashed along the empty street, "So stupid… what the fuck was I thinking?"

She came to an abrupt halt as she plowed headfirst into something large and only slightly soft. Falling back to her ass, she winced and looked up. Standing before her were four very large men who were grinning.

"Look here, boys!" the one she'd run into motioned to her, "A sexy little girl running through our turf."

Ami scrambled to her feet, "Look, guys… I don't want any trouble. I'm just trying to get to a friend's place."

"Maybe you should take us with you. All this bad shit goin' on around here… your friend a girl? We could party."

"She is, yeah… but I'm sure she wont want any more company them me… I mean, she's kind of antisocial."

One of the men in the back of the bunch grinned and spoke up, "That's cool… I think we might be able to convince her."

As they all started to laugh, Ami took a step back. All four men took a step forward, but that was as far as they got.

A dark form dropped from the rooftop of the building next to them and landed in their midst. As the lithe figure stood up and spun about, twin flashes of silver split the night and two of the men fell to the ground.

Ami was splattered with a spray of blood.

Something she was all too familiar with.

As she screamed and back-pealed, the sword wielding figure lashed out again and another throat was cut. The final thug turned and started to run, but found the tendons on the back of his ankles cut a moment later. He fell with a scream and flopped to his back to see his attacker.

A young female with a tight body suit stood before him. Chain mail covered and protected her vital areas, and her half mask covered her eyes and nose but left her ruby red lips visible. Lips that were turned up into a smile.

"Oh God! Please don't kill me! Please!" the man begged.

The girl stepped forward and stabbed both swords into his chest. She grinned as he screamed and writhed about for a full thirty seconds before he bled out. As he stopped flopping around, she yanked back her swords and stood up. Turning, she regarded Ami.

"Find shelter. This is no place for a girl like you to be right now."

Ami placed the voice and the well-shaped face in a heartbeat, "Holy… _Rose_?"

Her rescuer shook her head. Flicking the blood off her swords, she quickly re-sheathed them and grinned, "I'm the Ravager." She stated with mirth in her voice. She turned away and walked into the closest ally. Ami took a few seconds to catch her breath, then got up and dashed to the ally after her.

Ravager was gone.

"What the… fuck?" Ami shook her head and turned away. She'd think about it after she got to somewhere safe.

* * *

Starfire flew swiftly over the skyscrapers in down town Jump City, scanning below for any signs of criminal activity. She'd been focused on her patrol since she'd started, not once letting thoughts of Robin invade her mind.

Suddenly she caught sight of something that had become a familiar feature of her patrols. Flying down and landing on top of an eighty story building, Star folded her arms behind her back, "Red-X, why do you follow me?"

The thief in question was leaning against a radio tower, inspecting her form, "Because you interest me."

"Why? I have not done anything exceptional as of late-"

"It's not what you've done, but what I've seen you _can do_."

"What do you mean? You speak in riddles." Star let her eyes glow a fierce green, "I do not like that."

"Sorry!" he held up his hands, "I mean the red and orange tint to your energy signiture. What is it?"

Star faultered for a moment, then gained control of herself, "A power I choose not to use. If I were batteling a Gordainian Warship, or perhaps a much stronger menace than yourself-"

"But it comes out when I get you pissed off enough?" he cut her off with a grin evident in her voice.

"Yes, when I grow angry enough, my powers become difficult to hold back." Starfire drew herself up, "You will not angry me so again."

"Oh you think so?" Red-X stepped forward, "What if I were to say… tell you your boyfriend was a wimp?"

"You would be wrong." Star deadpanned, "He has beaten you more than once."

"Darn. So right." The thief stepped away from her, "So… you busy? I could use some food."

Star blinked at him, "Would you not have to remove your mask in order to eat?"

"Just the bottom half, and it's not like we're going to start a fight in the middle of a fast food joint anyway."

"I do not think… it wouldn't be…"

"I've got a better idea then." Red-X walked to the edge of the roof, "You wait here, and I'll be back with some food in a little while." He held up a hand to cut off her protests, "I'll even pay for it."

Star shook her head, "Return if you wish, Red-X, but I may not be here when you get back."

"I'll take my chances. A date with a pretty girl like you? Any sane man would." He saluted, and jumped off the building.

Starfire scowled at the point where he had vanished. Who did he think he was? Who did he think _she_ was? A date? He was mad. He had to be.

But he'd treated her like she mattered. He'd been nice, and even offered to pay for her food. Maybe he just needed a little push in the right direction in order to become a Titan. Could she convert Red-X?

Twenty minutes later, when the skull masked thief returned, Starfire was waiting for him with a smile.

* * *

Ami looked over her shoulder nervously as she stepped up to Jenny's door. She could have sworn she had seen a thug tailing her down the last block before the corner, and she knew dressed in workout clothes as she was she looked like a prime subject for a rape and murder.

"Jen!" Ami shouted as she pounded on the door, "Jenny, it's Ami! Open up!"

Looking back, she saw the large black man that had been following her come around the corner and grin when he saw her.

"Shit." Ami muttered, then pounded on the steel door once more, "Jenny!"

"Maybe no one's home." The thug grinned as he stepped further down the street towards her, "Dangerous out here, girl. You should come stay at my place tonight… when the sun comes up it's safer."

"Right." Ami turned and faced him, the blood stains on her clothes showing brightly in the flood light over Jenny's door, "That's what the last punk that messed with me said too."

The man paused, then laughed, "Little thing like you? What you got? A gun?"

"I've got my fists, asshole, and that's all I'll need against you."

The thug was within ten feet of her now, "Come on then girl!" he grinned wider, "Let's see what you've got!"

As soon as he was in distance, Ami leapt into the air and lashed out with her right foot, kicking him across the jaw, then following with her left foot, striking the same place. Landing, she darted forward and plowed a shoulder into his gut, knocking him backwards.

The man tried to recover, but Ami was already on him again, punching every sensivie area on his body she could reach. After a full minute of onslought, the red head backed off and motioned him forward, "Come on, big boy! Haven't even thrown a punch yet!"

He growled and lashed out at her with a hard right, which she ducked. She came in close to him and slammed a fist home in his gut, but he was ready for her this time, and his strong arms wrapped around her slim frame, holding her tight.

"Got'cha now, bitch." He growled and started to squeeze her. Ami let out a small noise of pain.

"Enough of this." A strong voice spoke over the ringing in Ami's ears, and suddenly she was released. She staggered forward, but was caught by strong hands, and a voice she placed as Speedy after a moment of catching her breath.

Looking back over her shoulder, she saw Troia tossing the thug across the street and into a dumpster. The young woman was dressed in a short skirt and low cut top, he hair braided off to one side. Knee high fuck-me boots with four inch heals made her even taller and more intimidating than ever before.

Looking back to Speedy, Ami saw he was dressed in baggy jeans and a jersey top, a red hair cocked at a funny angle on his head. Blue, worried looking eyes stared at her and she started when she realized he wasn't wearing his mask. "Speedy? Where's your mask?"

"Donna and I are undercover. Call me Roy." He helped her to stand up straight and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Are you okay? What're you doing down here?"

"I'm… I needed a good workout… Jenny is usually home Thursday nights…"

"I don't think she's home right now." Troia walked back to them and frowned at her friend, "Ami, don't be so reckless. Now where did the blood come from?"

The red haired girl looked down at herself, and then up with wide eyes, "Rose! She saved me from these four guys! She…" Ami gasped, "She murdered them! My God…" he knees gave out and Speedy caught her before she could fall, "She cut their throats out and stabbed them, and… Christ…"

"Ami, get a grip." Speedy hoisted her up, "Let's get you home, then you can tell us everything. If Slade's daughter is running around killing people in the middle of a gang war, we need to know why."

"I'll fly her and talk with her." Troia offered, and easily scooped Ami up in her arms. Lifting off the ground, she spoke down to Speedy, "Call Robin. He'll want to know right away."

"Sure thing. I'll see you back at the Tower."

The Amazonian woman nodded, and flew off with Ami. Speedy looked around, then dashed off down the street, back towards the Tower, "Shit's gonna hit the fan now…" he muttered.

* * *

Jenny looked out the window of the Jag as Shimmer sat next to her in the drivers seat. The red haired young woman maneuvered them through the traffic on the bridge with little effort, grinning all the while. "This really is a sweet car."

"Sure is. Selinda?"

"Yeah baby?"

"You meant what you said about the job, right? No killing?"

"There wont even be anyone there to kill, Jinx."

"Don't call me that."

"You'll need to use your code name."

"I… fine. Whatever. As long as no one dies."

"No one will. Trust me, it's a simple bank job."

"Yeah. Simple." Jenny looked back out the window.

"You having second thoughts?" Selinda looked concerned.

"No!" Jenny looked back over at her friend with a smile, "Just… wondering if this will really help me get past my fear of guns."

"Well, the guards will have them, and you'll have to take them away to knock them out. Security rent-a-cops are horrible shots, so it's a good confidence builder. When we get back to Jump, we can pound some gun toting gang-bangers, and then you'll be all better and ready to go be a do-gooder Titan if you want to."

"I don't want to." Jenny looked straight ahead, "Let's just get to L.A. and get this job done. I want to be home in time for the weekend."

"Okay." Shimmer merged onto a free-way and put the pedal down, "How fast does this thing go?"

"Really, really fast." Jenny grinned.

The sleek black car burned down the highway, carrying two young woman on a road trip to L.A.

* * *

Raven looked around Jenny's living quarters and frowned. There were no signs of anything being out of the ordinary, but for some reason, the whole situation gave her a bad feeling.

"Jenny…" the dark Titan muttered, "What are you getting up to?"

The sound of her T-Comp bleeping drew Raven away from her thoughts and she pulled it out. "Raven here. Talk to me Donna."

"I'm over at Ami and Janice's place. Ami tried to come see Jen tonight and was attacked by some gang bangers."

Raven gasped, "Is she okay?"

"She fine. Fought one of them down pretty good actually. Not a scratch on her though. It's just… she says she saw Slade's daughter."

"Rose? Where?"

"A few blocks from Jenny's place. She says Rose murdered four men."

"I'll check it out." Raven looked worried, "And I'll look for Rose. Try to have Ami tell you everything, then report back to Robin."

"Way ahead of you. Be careful, Raven."

"Always." Raven nodded, "Thank you, Donna. For being there in time."

The dark haired Titan on the other end of the com winked, "Always." And the line went dead.

Raven tucked her com away and sighed. "No rest for the weary." She said, and vanished into a pool of darkness, headed back to the Tower. If she was going to work, she needed her cloak.

* * *

Closing Notes: I didn't get an e-mail confirmation about it, so I don't know if anyone else did either, but Jump City Symphony updated as well. I've had so few reviews on it, and it's been two days now. Read it if you follow the series! And review it and this one! Thanks! 


	4. Aside 1: Undercover

Ties That Bind

A Teen Titans Fan Fiction by Jacob McDonald

Notes – You remember these from the REMR, right? Good. This is the first one in this story.

Standard disclaimers apply. I don't own Teen Titans.

* * *

_**Aside One – Undercover**_

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* * *

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"So what's this all about?" Speedy asked as Robin sat down at the head of the briefing table. Troia sat across from Speedy and they both had unmarked files sitting in front of them.

Robin spoke as he folded his hands before him, "We need to find out what's going on in the East End. Normally I would just have us rush in and stomp all the thugs until they stopped fighting, but this gang war is escalating out of control. There's some major players involved, and I'm worried it's going to spill city wide if we don't do something."

"So what are we doing?" Troia asked.

"We're going to send you two in undercover to find the root of the problem, then we'll simply cut off the threat at the source." He motioned to the two folders, "I'm had some of my contacts on the streets spreading rumors for a few days now about a new player in town. A rich kid with dangerous tastes, and his enforcer. I think the two of you can guess who's who."

"Sure." Troia opened her folder and looked down at the contents. She grinned, "I get to play dress up!"

"Again." Speedy was reading his own folder, "First the school girl bit, now you get to be a sexy thug. Robin sure knows how to set you up as a fantasy girl."

"Donna has certain… assets that make her useful as an undercover operative."

"Oh, Richard!" Troia threw a mock-scandalized hand up to her throat and gasped in an exaggerated way, "Was that a joke about my boobs?"

Robin rolled his eyes, "I'm eighteen, Donna. You can't scare me with your breasts anymore."

"Especially considering Starfire's breasts. She almost has you beat Donna." Speedy winked.

"I'll refrain from breaking your thumbs for talking about my girlfriend like that this time, Roy, but only because I need this mission done." Robin stood up, "Hit the armory and evidence lock up before you go. Pick up a few guns." With that, he swept from the room.

The remaining two Titans read the rest of their files in silence, then looked up each other. Troia spoke first, "Is he really calling you Roy Troy the Girl Toy?"

"Yeah. Is he really calling you Donna 'The Harp' Harper?"

"Dick is a closet perv."

"Yeah." The two of them looked at each other for another moment, then burst out laughing.

* * *

Donna stepped into the armory and looked around for Roy. She found him closing a gun case and putting it back on the shelf he'd taken it from. She snorted when she caught a good look at his attire.

He was wearing a Gotham Knights jersey with the number seven on it, and baggy jeans over high-top sneakers. He had a red hat cocked to the left on his head, and was just finishing tucking a .45 into the waist band of his pants. A fake earring dangled on his left ear, and his gold Rolex flashed as he turned to her.

For her part, Donna had gone with a rather simple outfit. Knee-high black boots, a short black skirt, and a low cut red top with elbow length sleeves. She had braided her hair and let it fall over one shoulder, and done her makeup in a sexy but Spartan manner.

Roy arched an eyebrow and let out a low whistle, "Where're you gonna' hide a gun in that?"

"Where are you going to get some street cred? You look like a total poser."

"Actions speak louder than words, babe." Roy winked.

Donna rolled her eyes, "Please tell me that was you in character."

"Of course." Roy pulled down another box and opened it. He pulled a 9mm GLOCK from inside and held it up, "Good for you?"

"Why do I get the nine-mil when you get the .45?" she put one hand on a hip and glared at him.

"The nine is easier to conceal, and the .45 has more stopping power. It's the kind of gun a punk like me would carry. Your gun is more accurate, and has more damage potential. Something an enforcer would know more about than me."

"Right. You and Dick have too much training in this kind of thing."

Roy flashed her a smile and handed her a shoulder holster, "You're going to need a vest or a jacket or something."

"I'll see if Kori has one that'll work." Donna took the gun and they left the lock up side by side.

* * *

"Where do we start?" Donna asked as they rolled down the street in a black Impala. Roy rode shotgun while the dark haired beauty next to him drove.

"Robin already got our names out. People are expecting Roy Troy and Donna Harper to be showing up any day now to throw around a lot of money and try to consolidate a few different gangs with similar goals under one leadership. Mine." He pointed to himself. "These punks are getting sick of just shooting at each other, and they're starting to realize that organized crime pays better than just killing everyone not wearing your colors."

"Money always talks, huh?"

"Fortunately, we have lots of that." Roy smiled at her and patted his front pocket where she knew he had a wad or hundred dollar bills.

"Amen. Here's a pool hall. Good place to start?"

"Good as any." Roy nodded as they pulled up to the curb and rolled to a stop. Both of them got out of the car and Donna hit the button to arm the alarm before they walked right up to the doors and right into the bar as if they owned the place.

Inside, seven men wearing green colors looked up as they came in. As both Donna and Roy were sporting largely red outfits, all of the men immediately went for guns.

Both Titans had their heaters out and aimed around the room before the gang bangers could pull theirs. Roy spoke first as Donna just leveled her scary-Amazon-warrior glare at all of them, "We don't want no trouble. Just here to offer a little bit of a business proposition."

"Who the fuck are you?" the closest thug demanded.

Roy swaggered over to him twirling his gun on one finger and grinning, "Roy Troy, the Girl Toy. Didn't your girl tell you I was gonna be in town? Usually the ladies know before you fuckers."

A few of the other men laughed a little, and Donna grinned. Roy swaggered further into the pool hall, weaving around the tables as he looked at all of the men individually, "Now word has reached my ears that this city has been erupting into a bit of a gang war… no organization, just you bitches running around popping off bullets at any fool stupid enough to walk on your turf. Seems to me, all you idiots are doing is killing each other."

Several of the men nodded in agreement, and one spoke up, "Tommy, rest his soul, he got killed last week. He was a good dude, you know? We don't know what to do without him though. He just… called the shots, you know?"

"I do know." Roy turned in a circle on the spot, "Gentlemen, I am here today to offer you a place in my organization. It's a small one right now, but once we've established a foothold here in Jump, soon we'll be raking in more cash than you can imagine. Think about it, operating right under the Titan's noses."

"How you gonna get around them?" another of the men demanded.

"Stupid, I worked in Gotham for four years and never got nabbed by the Bat! Now that I'm out here on the West Coast, how's working around his punk ass apprentice gonna be hard? Naw, I'm set. I got a fool proof system."

"So? What is it?"

"Secret. I can't just go tellin' everyone, you know?" Donna became aware that Roy was slowly adopting the same manner of speaking as the gang members. They didn't seem to notice, and they were growing more comfortable with him by the second. He was an amazing actor, it seemed, and she was stunned by how he was handling the situation so easily.

"So what you want with us?" the first man who had demanded to know who Roy was asked. Donna was sure to aim her gun directly between the man's eyes.

"I want to pay you a lot of money to work for me. Dealing my drugs, kicking ass where I point you to kick ass, pimping my bitches… how's about a little bit of good faith from me, huh?"

Roy pulled out the wad and counted out $1400… $200 for each man. "And I'll play any one of you in a game of pool."

"What'da we get if we win?" one of the men asked, eyeing the stack of hundreds.

"I'll give the winner another hundred bucks." Roy grinned, "Who's up for it?"

As one, they all pointed to a thin, bald man with a nasty grin. Roy grinned back, "They seem pretty sure about you!"

"Never lost a game in this hall!" the man replied.

"Fine, fine. We'll see if I can change that, huh?"

All of the men whooped and started to gather around the tale as Roy and the thin man set up for a game. Donna re-holstered her gun, and grabbed a cue of her own. As she set up the balls on a table on the other side of the room from her 'boss' the first man who had spoken walked over to her and grinned.

"Never seen a better rack." He said as she squared away the ball rack, bent over to do so. She didn't need to look up in order to see he was staring down the front of her shirt. With a snort of laughter, she stood up.

"I shoulda' shot you." She said with a sweet smile.

"Shoulda' yeah." The man grabbed up a cue and motioned her forward, "You break."

Donna did so, letting him inspect her ass while she did. She only put a fraction of her strength into the break, but still sank three balls. "I'll take stripes."

"Sure, sure." The man picked his shot and missed his target with a curse. Donna grinned.

"So," she said in a conversational manner, "why are you boys running all over Jump killing each other any way?"

"Well, we were fightin' with the Down Street Rollas 'cause they were pushin' smack in our yard. We don't let that shit in here."

"You only deal soft drugs? Dope? X?"

"Yeah. And guns. We do some guns."

"So why were the Down boys comin' in here to sell on your turf?"

"They were bein' pushed out by the Xenis. They's these tough cats with a meta bruiser backin' 'em up."

"Is there a root to all this pushin'?" Donna picked a shot and sank another ball.

"Yeah." The man picked his own shot and sank one of his own. "The East End Rollers totally butchered one of the Bay Street Bangers. Really fucked him up and left him dead in a bathroom or some shit. They started fightin' and everyone started fightin'. Those two are the big ones around here. Everyone was pickin' sides."

"Thanks for the info." Donna looked over at the table the other men were around just in time to see Roy lose and pay his opponent with a grin and a hand shake, "We might just go see them next."

"I'd stay away from the Bay Street guys." The man warned, "They've been real nasty lately, cuttin' people up for revenge and all that."

"We'll keep that in mind." Donna arched an eyebrow as Roy walked over to her, "We leavin?"

"Yeah. Let's go." The red head looked over at the man who'd been playing Donna, "I'll be in touch. See you cat's latter."

* * *

As soon as they were in the car, Donna explained what she'd found out. Roy listened as they pulled into traffic, then nodded slowly, "I say we call Robbie and find out where these East End Rollers hide out. See what they say about this murder."

"You don't think they did it?"

"Doesn't sound like typical gang bangers. Unless they've got some kind of fucked up in the head new leader, I'd say we have a set up."

"Who would do something like that?" Donna asked as Roy pulled out him com unit.

"I could hazard a few guesses. Nothing I want to really put out on the table right now. It's just…" he trailed off and stared at the screen of the T-Comp, not quite ready to hit the call button so he could talk to Robin.

"What?" Donna looked over at him with a concerned glance.

Roy muttered in response, "I just can't get over the feeling that this entire gang war has been a big set-up right from the beginning. It feels like a calculated move, designed to start exactly what's happening right now, just…" he trailed off again.

"Roy, what?" Donna sounded exasperated.

"There's no point. No advantage that I can see… there's a piece of the puzzle that's not there yet, and if this is a set up… anyone smart enough to pull it off isn't going to reveal their hand or their involvement until it's too late for us to stop."

Donna's mouth set into a line of firm resolve, "We'll just have to move faster than, wont we?"

Roy paused for another few seconds before hitting the call button on the T-Comp, "Yeah." As the screen came up, he let his face split into a silly grin, "Hey, Robbie! We need some info…"

* * *

The Impala parked in the lot next to a club deep on the east side of Jump City a little past 7:00 pm. Roy and Donna piled out and started for the doors with confidence in both of their swaggers.

Roy glanced at his team mate and shook his head with a laugh, "I swagger, Donna. You just walk like the hot bitch you are."

"You know, I could shoot you in the knee."

"You could. But I bet I have better aim than you do."

"Fine. I could hurl you two city blocks and rip out your heart with my bare hands."

"That… is true." Roy nodded thoughtfully, "So when we get in there, we look around for C.T. Roller. Stay together."

"And when we find him..?" Donna motioned for him to continue.

"I'm thinking on that. I'll come up with something."

"Sure. This mission sounds better by the second." The tall woman rolled her eyes and they stepped up to the bouncer outside the doors.

"ID?" he demanded.

Both Titans showed him their fake IDs, and were waved in with a grunt. As they moved into the noisy dance hall, they quickly set about searching out their target. Roy leaned over to Donna and spoke into her ear to be heard over the pounding bass, "There's booths in the back. We should check them first."

"Right." Donna started forward, her taller frame and darker scowl making people scurry out of their way. As they were passing a dark corner, Roy suddenly grabbed her and yanked her into the shadows, pulling her against him and looking over her shoulder with wide eyes. "Roy!" Donna hissed, "What in Hades name-"

"Shhh!" the red head hissed at her, "Look left, pretend like you're having a good time…"

Donna looked to her left and grinned, batting her eyes a little. She saw what Roy was looking at a moment later. "The Asian looking girl?" she whispered.

"That's Cheshire… we go back."

"Cheshire? Never heard of her."

"Seriously bad girl… loves to work with poison."

"So… super villain in the club, huh? Why are we hiding?"

"She's seen me without my mask… she'll recognize me in a heart beat." Roy was sweating.

"Why? Did you like… holy shit, Roy you didn't…"

"Um… yes? Look it was only the one time… well, it was a week, but we were both totally off duty."

"So you just slept with some deadly assassin chick 'cause you weren't working a case?"

"Look at her! She's hot!"

"You never told Raven about this, did you?"

"Raven knows I've been around. This is just not wanting to blow our cover." He let his hands dip lower on her back and pull her hips into his.

"Right. Purely about the mission." Donna rolled her eyes.

"Donna, she'll try to kill me if she sees me… things didn't end well."

"Really? Imagine that."

"Shit… she's coming this way!" Donna glanced over and sure enough, Cheshire was walking right towards them. Thinking quickly, she pulled her hair around so it blocked out most of Roy's face, then shoved him against the wall harder, and kissed him.

Roy's eyes went wide and he and Donna stared at each other in shock, even as the Amazon forced his mouth open with hers and slid her tongue in.

It took a full minute and a half for Cheshire to walk past them and be far enough away to not see them any more. Donna pulled back from Roy and glanced around to be sure she was gone, then looked back at her friend.

They both gagged and started spitting at the ground a moment latter. "Oh… ew." Donna laughed as she wiped her mouth, "It was like kissing my little brother."

"Like making out with my sister… or even my mom..." Roy shook his head and he shuddered, "Let's… never do that again… I don't think I would mind so much if it was Diana, but you… no way."

"The day Wonder Woman makes out with you, Harper, is the day the world will explode."

"Yeah… fuckin' ew."

"Tell me about it. Let's just find this C.T. Roller dude and get out of here… I need to brush my teeth." Donna grinned and Roy returned the smile.

* * *

Roy slid into a booth across from a lanky looking black man wearing a blue bandana, and rested the butt of his gun on the table, pointing it straight at the heart of his booth-mate. Donna slid into the booth next to him and pointed her own gun at the scantily clad woman sitting next to the gang member. She jerked her gun and her head out towards the club and the girl fled.

The man arched an eyebrow at the two people sitting across from him with guns trained on his chest, "Who the fuck are you?"

"I'm Roy Troy. This is Donna Harper. We're new in town."

"You must be." The thug grunted out a laugh, "You know who I am?"

"Of course we know who you are." Donna scowled, "We're just not very scared."

"See," Roy grinned and flashed his perfect white teeth, "we live on the edge, C.T. We know a good opportunity when we see it, and Jump is ripe for the plucking right now. This gang war you guys are perpetrating isn't doing anything except getting people killed, and we think a little organization might not go amiss. You get me?"

"No." C.T. glared, "Speak English, you little fuck."

"We're taking over." Roy spat, loosing his grin, "You work for me now."

C.T. laughed, "Yeah? What makes you think that?"

"Aside from the fact I could kill you right now and no one would even know for about an hour?" Roy grinned an evil grin this time, "I'm smarter than you. I have a fool proof way of working around the Titans, tried and tested on Batman himself."

"You from Gotham?" C.T. looked mildly interested now, "How much cash are we talkin'?"

"Millions." Roy shrugged and tossed a few hundred dollar bills on the table, "I just use that shit to wipe my ass. I don't need chump change like that. Keep it."

C.T. definitely looked interested now, "What you want then?"

"I want you to tell me why you keep killing people. And what made you carve up a rival gang member like a Thanksgiving turkey."

The Roller gang member snorted, "We never did that. We don't work that way. Sure we don't get along with the Bay Street Bangers, but we never wanted to fuckin' kill 'em. Not like that anyway."

"So someone set you up?"

"Yeah. And it's been costing us in blood all around. Everyone started pickin' sides and shootin' before asking who's who… kids are dyin' out there dude. This ain't no town to start a business in right now."

"Maybe you're right." Roy shrugged, "But think about my offer." He flipped the safety on his gun and tucked it away. Donna did the same and winked at C.T. before she slid out of the booth. Roy followed her and looked back at their new friend, "I'll be in touch."

As the turned and disappeared into the crowd, C.T. scooped up the cash Roy had left behind, and pulled out a cell phone. He dialed a number and held it to his ear, "Hello? Yeah, Mister Wilson it's C.T. Roller. Yeah, I just had a couple of strange cats in here askin' questions about the fighin'. You told me to call if it happened…"

* * *

Donna and Roy were driving back towards the city center in silence. Roy was lost in thought with a frown on his face, and Donna kept glancing at him. Finally, she burst out, "Just tell me what you're thinking!"

Roy was silent for a moment longer, then looked over at her, "This stinks like Slade."

Donna swerved a little bit, then slowed the car and stopped it. She noticed they were less then a block from Jenny's place. "How can you tell?" she demanded.

"The manipulation, the cold brutality of it all, the fact that it's in Jump, a city he's tried to take over more than once…" Roy shook his head, "I just can't get the feeling out of my head."

"Don't tell Dick." Donna looked straight ahead out the front of the car, "He'll go ballistic."

"Once we give him our report, he'll assume the same thing I am."

"Which is what?"

"Slade's up to something… something big. It seems small now, but this is something way bigger than just the two of us can dig up."

"So… now what?" Donna focused on a girl and a man talking further up the road.

"We just… what is it?"

"Is that Ami?"

Roy looked ahead in time to see the girl lash out with a strong kick and then start darting around punching the crap out of the much larger gang banger. "Yeah… she's the right size and those are Jenny's moves… let's go help her…"

* * *

An hour later, Roy was back in uniform, and he was once again calling himself Speedy. The young archer looked down at the scene of a particularly brutal quadruple homicide and grimaced. "What a mess."

Raven stood next to him, her cloak billowing in the wind, "No kidding. She tore those guys apart."

"Raven, can I tell you something in the strictest of confidences?"

"I know you have sex dreams about Starfire." Raven deadpanned.

Speedy rolled his eyes, "Who doesn't? Raven, you have sex dreams about Starfire. No, it's about this case."

"What is it?" Raven turned to him and arched an eyebrow.

"I think… from the information we gathered tonight, plus this thing with Rose calling herself the Ravager… I think Slade is in on this big time. I think he's planning something. He's trying to hurt the Titans. I know it… I just can't figure out how just yet."

Raven nodded, "You should try to keep from reporting to Robin about your findings for as long as you can. He'll be in a tizzy about this for at least a week before he remembers you still need to tell him what you found out." Raven looked back down at the blood soaked sidewalk, "In the meantime, I'll have the rest of the team looking into any leads we can find that will take us to Slade."

Speedy nodded, "I'm going to do an east to west sweep of residential area here. I'll see you back at the Tower?"

"Of course. And Roy? If you see Jenny out there, tell her I still want to talk to her."

"Will do." Speedy leaned in and kissed her cheek. "Love you!" and he was off and running.

Raven turned back to the mess below with a sigh.

* * *

Closing Notes - Review! 


	5. Friendship

Ties That Bind

A Teen Titans Fan Fiction by Jacob McDonald

Opening Notes – I've been busy. To make up for it, this is one of those chapters where a lot happens, even if it seems like it doesn't. Oh, and you couldn't have missed the first aside right before this. Hoping to have shorter delays on this story from now on.

Standard disclaimers apply. I don't own Teen Titans.

* * *

_**Chapter Four - Friendship**_

* * *

Beast Boy woke up suddenly, a ringing sound wrenching him out of his slumber. He stumbled out of bed in a few seconds and started looking for his pants as he mumbled, "Wait up, Robin… I'll be ready to kick ass in just a second…"

"Gar?" he paused and looked back over his shoulder at the bed. Hanna was blinking at him in a confused manner, "Where are you going?"

"Um…" as awareness flooded his brain, Beast Boy took in his surroundings. Since Hanna's apartment looked nothing like the Tower, it only took him a moment to figure things out, "Answering your phone?"

Hanna giggled, "Then do it and come back to bed. I'm cold without you here."

"Sure." BB walked to the kitchen wearing only his boxers and picked up the cordless phone, "Hello?

_"Gar?"_ it was Becka, _"What are you doing at Hanna's so early?"_

He glanced at the wall clock and saw that it was just past eight, "I kinda spent the night…" he grinned and rubbed the back of his head.

There was a long pause, then Becka spoke, _"Nailing a pregnant chick, huh? Kinky." _

"What?" Beast Boy gasped and sounded scandalized, "We didn't… I mean, I wouldn't… for Christ's sake, Becka!"

_"What? Pregnant girls get horny! I read about it."_

"You are so twisted. I mean, like Slade twisted."

_"I'll take that as a compliment. Now if she's not tied to her own bed or covered in whipped cream, do you think I could talk to Hanna?"_

Beast Boy spluttered into the phone again, and Becka laughed at him until he marched to the bedroom and shoved the phone at Hanna, "It's your demented, sexually deviant best friend."

Hanna grinned as she took the phone with one hand and reached out with the other, lightly scraping her nails down his green stomach, "Who do you think taught her to be a sexual deviant?"

Beast Boy looked a little odd for a moment, "Uh… I'll be in the bathroom… taking a cold shower."

"You do that." Hanna grinned at him as he staggered away, then lifted the phone to her ear, "Why the hell are you calling so early, and why are you being perverted to my poor, poor boyfriend?"

_"Because I need your help and because it's just plain fun. In that order." _

"I'll give you the second one. What do you need my help with that can't wait another two hours?"

_"Well, as you know, I've been working out."_

"Yeah. You're getting skinnier while I'm getting fatter. Thanks for reminding me."

_"Hush. I've hit the breaking point Hanna. None of my old clothes fit me anymore."_

Hanna arched an eyebrow, "Not even the stuff from a few season's ago?"

_"Don't even go there."_ Becka sounded insulted, _"This is it, Hanna. I need your help… because I have to replace almost my entire wardrobe."_

Hanna paused, "Don't you have class in like, an hour?"

_"Screw class! This is important!"_

"Spoken like a truly spoiled brat."

_"Thank you. Now get up, shower, put on that really cute blue maternity top, and get your butt over to the Westbrook Mall. We're starting at Mardem's." _

"A little swanky, don't you think?"

_"I need business casual too! And it's the hardest to shop for, so we're doing it first."_

"You're insane."

_"And you can't wait to start shopping when Daddy just gave me a credit card with a $45,000 limit."_

"I'll be there in an hour." Hanna was suddenly all business, "I'll have Gar get me there somehow."

_"See you then!"_ Becka made a kissy noise over the phone, _"Bye!"_

"Love you too." Hanna shook her head with a laugh as she hung up the phone. Crawling out of bed, she stretched, then pulled off her pajama top and kicked off her pants. "Hope Gar wants some company in the shower…"

* * *

The first thing Ami noticed when she woke up was the warm arms circled around her shoulders. The second thing she noticed was the soft breasts her face was pressed against, and the dark hair that blocked part of her vision. Blowing a few strands of it out of her mouth, she stirred and looked up through blurry eyes, "Donna?"

"Ah'm not quite that pritty, hun. Thanks though." Janice squeezed her tighter and held her down.

Ami was far stronger than her roommate, but stayed where she was anyway. She settled back down and sighed, "I don't remember falling asleep."

"Robin came over. He was grilling you until you passed out from exhaustion."

"I remember Robin… he was being a jerk."

"Donna said he gets that way when he's stressed."

"Well, with Rose running around murdering people in cold blood…"

"I can't believe that… she was so nice at school."

"Well, there was no mistaking that posh New England accent. And her body. And they way she moved."

"Checking out other girls?" Ami heard the grin in Janice's voice and scowled into her breasts.

"I'm just saying…"

Janice shifted, "Ami… you know…"

"What?"

The taller girls arm's tightened and a hint of fear entered her voice, "I don't want you to ever, ever do anything like you did last night ever again… hunny… you scared me so much… God… Ami I don't know what I'd do without you…"

"Janice?" Ami pulled away and pushed herself up, supporting her weight with her hands on either side of her roommate's waist, "What's… wrong…" She trailed off as she saw the dark haired girl's face. Eyes red and puffy, tear tracks marring her pretty features, and fear evident in her eyes. The red head's face crumpled and she fell again into her lover's embrace once again. A sob escaped her own throat and she curled up to Janice's body, their forms meshing perfectly. "Christ… Jan… I was so scared… I stood and fought when I had to, but… how does Cassie do it? How can Jenny do it after being shot like she was?"

Janice just held her tighter than ever, "Please promise me you'll stay out of the East End until all this violence is over… Ami, please…"

"I promise… not even to see Jenny… Jan… I love you."

Janice gasped a little and buried her face in Ami's hair, "I love you too… so much…"

They lay on the couch together for hours afterwards, just holding one another and crying.

* * *

Robin shuffled into the common area of Titans Tower at half past nine in the morning, his feet dragging and his eye mask drooping. He had been out from the time Speedy had called him, first interrogating Ami, then searching the East End for clues. His investigation had turned up nothing so far.

The Boy Wonder wasn't so exhausted that he missed the sound of keys clacking as he crossed the living room. Looking over, he saw Raven working at the main screen, her cloak and leotard replaced with jeans and a fuzzy sweater. Her feet were bare, and she looked like she was barely keeping her eyes open as well.

"Have you slept yet?" he asked.

Raven didn't turn away from what she was doing, "No."

"You should. What are you working on?"

"Finishing the report from the quadruple homicide, and working up a new file on Rose Wilson." Raven hit a few more keys and a profile picture came up of Rose. It was one she had scanned in from some of her school photos. In it, Rose was smiling and waving at the camera. Raven had forgotten who took the picture.

"I'll finish that up once I've had some coffee. You should get some sleep."

"You haven't slept in three days." Raven replied curtly, "Again. Go to bed, Dick. The Titans will function fine without you."

"You think I'll be able to sleep with Slade running around Jump again?" Robin demanded as he walked across the room and stopped next to her.

Raven finally looked up at him, "Rose is running around, Dick, not Slade."

"And who was she last seen with?"

"Doesn't matter. There's no proof Slade is in town."

"Raven, I'm only going to give you this order once, so listen carefully," Robin leaned down in her face, "Your insubordination will not be tolerated any longer. If you disobey my direct orders one more time, you'll find yourself without a place to live."

"That's such bullshit." Raven turned back to the computer, "You wouldn't know what to do without me, Dick. The entire team would self destruct, and you'd be left alone without anyone to make sure you didn't kill yourself doing something stupid and reckless."

Robin glared at her for a moment, and sighed, "Fine. Have it your way. But know that I wont put up with it forever, Raven."

"You'll put up with it until I say you don't have to anymore. When you stop acting like an idiot and start acting like a hero."

Robin reached out and grabbed her seat. He spun her around until she was facing him and slammed one hand next to her head, "Say that again, bitch."

Raven slapped him across the face. Robin turned back to her with a glare that could stop an elephant. Raven's eyes burned black, "Do not ever… ever… resort to childish name calling with me again, Richard, or you will sorely regret it."

"Do we have to have this little tiff again? Raven, it's not a fight you can win."

"We'll see." And a pulse of black energy blew Robin across the room. He performed an acrobatic flip in mid-air, and landed on the counter-top of the kitchen with ease, bird-a-rang already in hand. Raven flew up out of her seat and prepared to use her powers against him.

Robin grinned and pushed a button on his belt.

Raven suddenly heard a horrid screeching noise, and she fell from the air and to her knees, clutching her head. "Argg!" She shouted, and looked up at Robin with fear and confusion written on her face.

Robin continued to grin and took a few steps forward, "It's a Psionic Disruption Emitter. Any psychic within a hundred feet will experience what I assume you're experiencing right now. I hear it's kind of painful."

Raven grit her teeth, "Fine… we wont fight… turn it off…" Robin did so, and she fell to her hands and knees, gasping for breath, "That… I can't believe you would… against your own teammate…"

"When you start acting like a teammate, Raven, I'll stop seeing you as an enemy." Robin turned on his heal, "I've changed my mind. Finish the report before you go to bed. I'll want to review it when I get up." And with that, the Boy Wonder swept from the room, his cape snapping behind him.

Raven looked up at his retreating form and her eyes narrowed.

* * *

Speedy fired another arrow at the moving target inside the training room and hit it dead on. Sighing, he pulled another from his quiver and selected his next target. Nearby, Troia threw expert punches at the pads Cybrog held up for her. As she grunted and hurled another devastating attack, the robotic Titan spoke, "So Rose has gone nuts, huh?"

Speedy replied as another target fell, "Seems that way. Ami said she was acting very Slade-like."

"Great. That's just what we need." Cy backed up a step as a punch from Troia rocked him, "Another Slade."

"On the bright side, this one has nice tits and an ass to die for." Speedy nailed the last target and slung his bow over his shoulder.

"I'm telling Raven you said that." Troia grinned as she backed off from Cyborg, "That's enough, Vic. Let's call it a day."

"Sounds good. You two up for doing anything?"

"Naw." Speedy yawned, "I'm gonna take a nap. Two hours of sleep does nothing for my stunning good looks."

Troia snorted out a laugh, "Yeah, sure."

"And you should sleep too. Don't want the oldest girl in the Tower starting to look her age." Speedy stuck out his tongue.

Cy shrugged, "I think you look fine Donna."

"Thank you Vic. Roy, I'm never kissing you again."

"I thought we established that last night." Roy made a face, "Yuck."

"I don't want to know." Cyborg smiled, "I'll be in my lab. Gotta figure out some way to keep track of Robin so he doesn't go Slade hunting without us."

"Good call." Speedy waved as he made his way to his room, "See ya!"

The other two Titans watched him go, then Cy turned to Troia, "You kissed him?"

"Don't remind me. Ever." She pulled a face, "It kept us alive, and that's all that matters now."

"Right." Cy shook his head, "You gonna take that nap?"

"I think I might." Troia lifted off the ground and started to fly down the hall, "And thanks Vic… for looking out for Richard."

"Hey, he's my friend too." Cyborg waved as he walked off to his lab.

Troia floated off by herself down the hallway until she came to her room. Just as she was about to enter, the door of the elevator slid open and Starfire floated out, looking as if she hadn't slept all night. As the alien girl looked up and saw her friend, she froze.

The two of them stared at each other for a moment, then Troia spoke, "Haven't seen you around for a while, Kori. Where have you been?"

"No where!" Star responded far too quickly. Troia frowned.

"We had a quadruple homicide last night, and Rose Wilson reappeared calling herself the Ravager. We believe Slade may be back in town, Ami was almost killed, Dick is flying off the handle, Raven lost track of Jenny, and you were… no where?"

Starfire gulped, "Y-yes."

"Star… if you want to talk about something-"

"I do not! I am sorry, but I am very sleepy. Perhaps when I awake we can speak of these new developments." Star flew past her dark haired friend, "I am sorry!" and she vanished into her own room, where the electronic lock engaged a moment latter.

Troia frowned deeper and walked into her own room.

* * *

Becka looked at herself in the mirror of the fitting area in the upscale clothing store she and Hanna had been at for the past forty minutes, and smoothed down the light blue tank-top she was wearing. While business casual may have been the hardest for Becka to shop for, the bulk of her clothes were casual run-around-town wear, and it was taking forever for her to decide on new outfits.

"I still can't believe we're spending over a thousand dollars buying you a new wardrobe." Hanna rubbed her swollen belly and smiled at her friend, "Green top next, then try both with the khaki shorts."

Becka frowned, "Those shorts are _too_ short."

"Hunny, you didn't spend two hours a day working out so that you couldn't show off that incredible ass you've developed."

Becka grinned, "It is pretty damn cute, isn't it?"

"Something Chad would love to see in a bikini, I'm sure." Hanna gave her best friend a meaningful glare.

"For crying out loud!" Becka threw her hands up, "Fine! I'll call him!"

"Please do. He may have been a jerk to you, but Chad's still a nice guy. If you're going to end things with him once and for all, and least extend him the courtesy of doing it promptly."

"Okay!" Becka yanked off the top and tossed it on a pile of similar choices. Picking up the green shirt Hanna had indicated earlier, she pulled it on. Taking a glance at the mirror once more, she spoke more calmly, "Oh, by the way, Daddy's having a party in a week. He told me to invite some friends."

"Oh joy." Hanna rolled her eyes, "We get to be the Junior Democratic Party of Jump City again."

"Hey, the food's good, and there'll be hot young politicians in tuxes to dance with."

"Tuxes or no, I've got a date to bring now." Hanna winked.

"Yeah, rub it in."

"I guess Ami and Janice will go together as well… are you going to invite Jenny and Cassie?"

"Of course! And I was thinking Maggie and Ginger too."

Hanna arched an eyebrow, "I didn't know you were talking to Ginger that much."

"Eh. She'll have a good time, and it'll look good for her career and Daddy's image." Becka kicked off the knee length dress she was wearing and grabbed the shorts. Pulling them on, she zipped them and turned to inspect her own behind. "Holy hell I have a nice ass."

"And how." Hanna stood up, "We're done here. Let's hit the next store before we spend any more on this one."

* * *

"Jenny? Wake up sweetie." The pink haired girl swam out of unconsciousness and cracked open her eyes, squinting at the sunlight.

"What time is it?" she asked as she sat up in the bed she'd been sleeping on.

"Almost three." Shimmer replied from where she was leaning in the doorway. "We need to start laying out the gear."

"Alright…" Jenny kicked her legs out of bed and stood up, stretching, "Go ahead. I'll be along as soon as I get a shower."

"Okay. See you in a few." Shimmer left her and Jenny looked back out the window over the bed. They were staying in an apartment above an old run down warehouse in the middle of LA's industrial park. Most of the businesses around them were either long closed or shady to begin with, so they were hardly ever bothered by anyone. A perfect Evil Lair.

After they had arrived the night before, Shimmer had shown her the room she was in now, and left her to go sleep in her own room. They'd decided to get a good amount of sleep since they'd be up so late the coming evening robbing a bank.

Shaking her head, Jenny walked out of the room and down the narrow hallway to the bathroom and the shower. As she stripped off the shirt she'd slept in, she started to narrow her mind to all the tactics and skills she'd have to use in order to pull off a successful job.

* * *

The bleeping of a Titan communicator sounded suddenly in Raven and Speedy's bedroom, shattering the silence that had been ruling it for several hours. A hand started groping at the night stand to the right of the bed, and finally grabbed the T-Comp there, pulling it back to a head of red hair. Flipping the device open, Speedy muttered, "What?"

The bleeping continued and the archer slammed the device into the headboard and glared at it, "What the fuck?"

"It's mine, Roy." Raven sighed as she pulled herself out from under the covers and grabbed her own communicator. Flipping it open she saw who was calling. "I have to take this."

Speedy blinked at her, "Okay…"

"Sorry, it's private." Raven stood up and started for the bathroom, her panties riding up, and her tank top drooping over one shoulder.

"Um…" Speedy seemed to loose all coherent thought at the sight of his less than dressed girlfriend, and just nodded.

Raven grinned at him, then stepped into the bathroom and closed the door. She turned her attention back to her com and frowned a little. Tara grinned back in a sheepish manner, _"Bad time?" _

"I was sleeping."

_"It's almost three."_ Tara pointed out.

"I was up until just after ten this morning filing reports. We had a quadruple homicide to deal with last night."

_"Wow."_ Tara shuddered, _"Scary."_

"Yeah. What did you need?"

_"Just to hang. Maybe do some shopping. I wanted to talk to you about your friend Becka."_

"What about her?"

_"You said that Chad was trying to get back with her, right? But… he's sending me a lot of mixed messages with the stuff he's doing and… I think I just need to talk to someone."_

Raven rubbed her eyes, "Alright. I could use a little down time after the blowout I had with Robin this morning."

_"You had another fight with him?"_

"I think he would have really hurt me if I hadn't backed down." Raven shook her head, "He's getting dangerous."

_"That's… scary too."_

"Tell me about it." Raven nodded, "I'll be ready and over there in a half hour."

_"Sweet. See you then."_

* * *

Robin woke up with a start, his eyes attempting to adjust to the darkness of his room, then relaxed when he felt warm hands rubbing across his chest, "Kori?" he murmured.

"Hush, Richard." Starfire whispered from right next to him, and he felt her naked body pressing against his, "We do not need to speak."

Robin swallowed hard as she started pushing off the boxers he was sleeping in, while crawling on top of him at the same time. Reaching around her shoulders, he pulled her closer and kissed her.

Starfire returned the kiss whole-heartedly.

* * *

Ami had fallen into a half sleeping, half awake kind of daze, so Janice had pulled her up and led her to bed. After tucking her in and promising to come wake her for dinner, the dark haired southerner had gone back to the living room and contemplated her situation.

The events of the night before had proven to her just how much she was in love with her roommate, and that made her feel even more horrible for how she'd acted. While Beth was definitely more of the homosexual type that Jan preferred, Ami was the one girl she could see herself being happy with. She had thought that taking things slowly with Ami had been a good idea, but hadn't counted on meeting another girl so ready to get her into bed.

And it had been great, too. Beth knew what she was doing, and Janice had felt a little under experienced by comparison. The other girl had been slightly rough with her, which was fine, but it had seemed almost like she was taking what she wanted and leaving Janice to fend for herself. Ami was a far more attentive lover, that was for sure.

She was pulled from her musings by her cell phone ringing. She answered it quickly, not bothering to look at the caller ID.

"Hello?"

_"Jan! Hey, what's up?"_ it was Beth.

"Oh! Beth! Um… hi."

_"You sound a little off. Is everything okay?"_

"Yeah, it's… no everything isn't okay."

_"What's wrong?"_

"Ami… Ami was attacked last night on the East End. She was almost killed."

_"Again?"_ Beth sounded slightly worried.

"No! She's fine this time, but things were really scary… If it hadn't been for the Titans again… she'd be dead for sure."

_"That's horrible! You poor thing… I know how much you care about your friend. Do you need me to come over?"_

"No… Beth, I'm fine. I think I should just stay here with Ami… she needs me right now."

_"Hmm."_ Beth sounded a little put off, _"If I didn't know better, I'd say that was a loving tone of voice right there."_

"It is. I do love her very much." Janice wondered at the sudden shift in Beth's mood, "Why? What are you saying?"

_"That it's not nice to fuck one girl then turn around and fawn all over another!"_ Beth hissed.

Janice was taken aback, "What? Beth, Ami is my friend! She almost died last night!"

_"But you love her don't you? Not just as a friend!"_

Janice spluttered into the phone for a moment, then calmed down and regained her composure. She sighed deeply, and spoke once more, "Yes, Beth. I've been in love with Ami for years… and she's finally started to love me back. We've only had sex twice, but-"

_"You've had sex with her?"_ Beth shrieked, _"You never told me that!"_

"You never told me about anyone you had sex with either!" Janice shouted back, "It's not like we decided to start dating or anything, Beth! And I'm sorry if it upsets you that much that I was looking around for a good lay because I was horny, but you have to admit, you weren't exactly being overly giving yesterday!"

_"How dare you!"_ Beth was screaming now, _"After I showed you what it's like to be a real woman? After I was so nice to you, and I even slept with you!"_

"No, I slept with you, which was the biggest mistake I've made in a long time! You just took me and left, without so much as a thank you!"

_"Well, maybe if you'd been a bit better at it-"_

"Don't you dare… Ami never complains!"

_"Well she can't have had too much experience then, huh? Just like you!"_

"Don't ever call me again, Beth." Janice said in a low, deadly tone. "Don't try to contact me in anyway, and stay away from my friends. If you don't, I'll call in some favors with the kind of friends you don't want to mess with… the kind that can make your life hell."

_"What kind of friends would those be, bitch?"_

"The kind that can rip your mind apart with their metahuman abilities." Jan hissed back, "I mean it. Goodbye, Beth." And Janice flipped her phone shut with a grunt of disgust. She threw it at the far side of the couch she was sitting on, and folded her arms across her chest, "Well… that's taken care of then."

Back in the hallway that led to the bedrooms, out of Janice's view, Ami leaned against the wall and smiled.

* * *

Tara looked at Raven critically, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, Tara, I'm sure." Raven rolled her eyes, "It's cute. Boys will dig it."

Tara stepped back and fingered her new eyebrow ring, "Okay… I'll trust you this time, but I want a boy's opinion before I go out on any dates."

"Tara, the only thing you need for a date is new clothes. The grunge look is okay for you, but not exactly good for anything other than a rock concert, and the slutty school girl outfits have just got to go."

"So what do you think I should wear, oh fashion goddess Raven?"

"Mock me if you will, but at least I can dress myself in normal clothes and still look good." Raven grinned in an evil way.

"You're so fucking mean." Tara scowled, "So… the mall then?"

"Why not? I haven't bought anything sexy for Roy in a while."

"Do you ever think about anything other than case work and sex?"

"Not really." Raven shrugged with a grin.

"You're terrible. Come on." Tara stood up from her couch and grabbed her coat and her purse. Raven stood as well and picked up the purse she'd brought with her. They walked to the door and Tara said over her shoulder, "We'll take the bus. I don't want you using that black shit to take me anywhere."

Raven rolled her eyes again as they stepped out.

* * *

"Becka, really, that's enough." Hanna begged, "You've spent over $5,000!" They were standing in the middle of the Westbrook Mall, with more bags heaped around them than they could reasonably carry.

Becka shrugged, "Okay, fine. I wanted to look at that new shop down town for my formal gown anyway."

"Finally. So what are we doing with the rest of our day?"

"Um… I was thinking I might call Chad."

"Again, finally. That's fine. I'll just get a cab home, and-"

"No need." A green hand slipped around her chest from behind her, and she caught the familiar sent of Beast Boy's natural smell. He smelled like soap and clean, open air. She suspected it had something to do with his unstable genetic structure.

"Hey Gar." She snuggled back into him.

"Hey yourself. You two ladies have been busy!" he grinned at the piles of bags.

"Becka bought half the mall."

"The good half, thanks to Hanna!" the brunet beamed, "And you're just in time to help me carry all of this out to my car!"

Beast Boy grinned, "That's cool. I can be a beast of burden." A half second later, a mule was standing next to them, grinning in a mule like manner.

"Hey! You were right Hanna! He _is_ useful for something!"

The green mule snorted flicked her with it's tail. Becka swatted the tail away and started trying bag handles together to make them into saddle bags. Hanna just lost herself in a fit of giggles and hugged the next of her transformed boyfriend.

* * *

Robin stared up at the ceiling, breathing hard. Starfire was nestled in his embrace still, also breathing hard. Sweat glistened on their naked bodies, and it took a moment before the dark haired young man had enough breath to speak.

"Holy shit, Star… you've never… I mean, we've never…"

"Been that wild?" she grinned and turned towards him, looking into his eyes, "We should do it more often… your attentions were most welcome."

"I didn't mean to be so rough…"

"It does not bother me. I felt no pain."

"I know I can't hurt you, Kori. I just… you weren't even using half your strength and I was worried that you were giving in to me a bit too easily."

"If I had wanted to pull away I could have. You know that. I rather enjoyed it when you pushed me head down further so I could-"

"Okay… don't remind me. I'll just want to do it again."

"And we will. Many times."

"Sounds good, but… Kori, are we okay?"

She stared at him for a long moment, then nodded slowly, "I think we are. I just wish… you could tell me about some of these things that you are hiding from me."

"I had another fight with Raven this morning." He said suddenly, "That's one of the things that's been bothering me."

"What is it you were arguing about?"

Robin winced, "I didn't say arguing. We had a fight."

Star blinked, clearly not understanding, "You mean… you had a physical altercation?"

"Yeah… the second one this summer, actually. The first one destroyed half the living room."

"Oh… Richard, what could cause the two of you to loose such control? Especially Raven?"

"Well, I may be able to hide things from most of the team, but Raven… you know how she is. If she wants to know something, she knows."

"And you were fighting because…?"

"She thinks I should tell everyone. And she thinks I'm going off the deep end with Slade back in town."

"Donna told me about that… is there any proof that he really is?"

"I don't think his daughter showing up and killing people is a coincidence. I've been doing this too long to think that."

"Then… but why would you fight?"

"We've both been losing or tempers around the other for a while now. We've said things to each other in the heat of the moment that we both refuse to take back, and the insults and anger has just built up… I don't know how to fix it."

"I will speak with Raven." Starfire replied, "That will take care of at least one thing you have to deal with."

"Kori, you don't have to… it's my job, as leader-"

"I want to. Besides, I think she will listen to me, more that she will listen to you."

Robin pulled her close to him and they cuddled together, "I hope you're right, Kori. I don't know how much longer I can take all this stress."

* * *

Speedy rubbed his maskless eyes and moaned, "I know it seems a little far fetched, Vic, but you have to admit, Slade is involved somehow."

"Sure." Cyborg nodded, "The possibility she's operating alone is slim, but I don't think Slade is trying to take over the city by starting a bunch of gang bangers killing each other. It doesn't make any sense."

The two of them were sitting in the living room on the couch, with Troia curled in a chair not far away, listening to them argue about Ravager. After a moment of silence, she spoke up, "I know I don't have as much experience with Slade as you guys do, but I've read a little of Robin's notes on him… there's quite a few, I guess…"

Cyborg snorted, "Understating the situation wont make it any worse, Donna. The kid is obsessed. He has almost four gigs of text files alone, not to mention the pictures and video. A full sixteenth of the Titan mainframe memory is devoted to Slade."

"Well, that makes us kind of experts then, doesn't it?" she glared, "From what I read, Slade Wilson is not only manipulative and violent, which fits with starting the gangs fighting, but also brilliant in the strategy department as well. This has to be part of a larger plan."

"Exactly my point." Speedy interjected, "And his track record has him trying to take over the city multiple times. With his latest 'Apprentice' at his side, it seems like the timing is right."

"Except it's a family matter now." Cyborg noted, "Rose is his daughter. He'll treat her better… nurture her, and turn her into the same cold blooded killer he is."

Troia snorted, "From the looks of the crime seen photos, he's well on his way. Ami said she didn't even give those guys a chance to run. She just cut them down. And she pinned one down and stabbed him until he bled out. She's… completely flipped."

"She seemed like a sensible kind of girl at the school though. He's done something more than just train her in the past few months." Speedy scratched a the stubble on his chin, "Any ideas?"

The three of them were silent for a few minutes, then Cyborg spoke up, "We need to know more about him. Interpol seemed to know more then they were letting on, and I'm guessing some other organizations know things they aren't telling us either."

"You know government types." Speedy waved a hand, "I have a few contacts in the Department for Extraordinary Operations. I'll see if they can give us a hand."

"Sounds good." Troia stood up, "I'm going to head back to Gateway city. Diana and I have had dealings with Checkmate in the past, and if anyone knows anything it's them. I'll see if we can't find a Pawn or two to help us out."

"Alright. I'll get out BB's notes from his investigation into Rose and see if I can pull any insight from there. We meet back here in a day. Agreed?" Cyborg looked around at his small team. The other two nodded and he grinned, "Nothing else to say then, except, Titans, Go!"

* * *

A dark form huddled on top of a building across the street from the Third Federal Bank in L.A. Shifting slightly, the form revealed its self as a young woman with bright red hair who's eyes never left the front doors. Her lips moved silently as she counted, then stopped when a guard walked out the doors, looked all around, then walked back in. She nodded and made a note on a pad next to her.

A moment latter, another dark clothed form joined her. This one with pink hair.

"Hey." Jinx said to Shimmer, "I've got the schedule for patrols of the rear of the building down, and I'm pretty sure I've got a draw up on the standard armament of the guards. This honestly looks laughably easy."

"Which is why it'll be your first job back."

"It'll be my _last_ job, Selinda."

"Of course. I'm sorry."

"Don't try to trick me into anything, Shimmer. I'll just push back harder than you can push forward."

"Oh no. Jinx is threatening me. What ever will I do?"

"Sod off."

"Anyway, I've got the movement up front down now too. It's the same as the night shift. Interior patrol patterns most likely don't very from day to night either, so we've got everything we need." Shimmer looked sideways at her friend, "Are you sure you want to do this, Jenny?"

Jinx nodded, "I'm sure. I could use the cash anyway."

"Alright. Let's head back to HQ and gear up. We start eh op at oh-one-hundred."

Jinx nodded again, "Smooth sailing. This'll be a cinch."

* * *

Becka stared at the phone number written on a wrinkled scrap of paper that had been pinned to the bulletin board over her desk for over a week. She tapped her fingers on the desk, staring at her pink cell phone, then glanced back up at the number.

With a moan of frustration, she grabbed up the phone and dialed. Her thumb hovered over the send button for almost a minute before she finally pressed it.

It rang two and a half times, _"Hello?"_ The voice of her ex-boyfriend made her heart speed up. She was quiet as she listened to him breath for a moment, then repeat himself, _"Um, is anyone there?"_

"Yeah! Sorry, Chad, it's Becka."

_"Oh! Shit, hold on…"_ she heard him moving around, then after a moment, he spoke again, _"Hey, what's up?"_

"Not much… is this a bad time?"

_"No! I was just sitting in the living room with my parents and my aunt… didn't want them to be eavesdropping on this conversation…"_

"So you stayed in Jump then? I thought you were going to NYU."

_"I changed my mind. I didn't want to leave and… well, I didn't want to leave."_

"Chad, please tell me you didn't stay in Jump just on the off chance I might want to get back together with you." Becka sighed and rubbed her temples.

_"No!"_ he was quick to reply, _"I just… I didn't want to leave. With the violence at WJCIE and… I didn't want to leave."_ His voice had grown very small, and Becka felt a twinge in her heart. She ignored it.

"Chad, we all hurt over that. We lost a lot of friends."

_"Yeah."_ He was silent for a moment, then whispered in a hurt tone, _"Becka, why'd you call?"_

She found she could do little more than whisper back, "I'm not sure. I don't know."

He cleared his throat, _"Well… do you want to… get together and talk about it?"_ he sounded too hopeful in that pathetic little boy way for her not to laugh. As Becka giggled, Chad spoke in a huffy tone, _"I'll take that as a no."_

"No! Chad, you just sounded so pathetic. Of course I'll meet you… um, how does dinner on Tuesday night sound? I'm free then."

She could hear the grin in his voice as he replied, _"Really? Oh, sweet! Becka… I'm sorry I was such an ass before… I'll… I just want to see you again. We can take it from there."_

"You're really to earnest for your own good." Becka grinned, "I'll see you Tuesday. Seven sharp."

_"Meet you at…_ Monticello's?_" _

"Oh, yum. Yes. A thousand times yes."

_"Sweet. See you then bay-"_ he caught himself, then spoke in a softer voice, _"Becka."_

Becka smiled. He'd almost called her baby, like he used to. "Yeah. I'll see you then… babe." She giggled at his sputtering and hung up.

* * *

Beast Boy laughed a little, "Hanna, are you sure you saw Raven coming over here?"

Hanna pulled him by the hand through the Westbrook Mall and nodded with a happy smile, "I don't know why she'd be here, but you're useless. She might be able to help me find a cute outfit to wear to Becka's dad's party."

"Why can't you wear the dress from the dance at the WJCIE?"

"Aside from the fact that I tore the crap out of it while I was running around playing vigilante with Ginger?"

"Oh yeah… forgot about that…"

"Yeah, you would. You do it every night."

"Not every night."

"Whatever. Now if I'm not mistaken, we'll find Raven just over here at the Hot Topic…"  
"What the hell is Raven doing at the mall without Star?" Beast Boy asked, "I mean, she doesn't really like shopping by herself."

"Maybe she's meeting a friend here. I'm sure since we're in the area, she won't mind hanging out with us too."

"What friend could it be though?" BB frowned, "Wouldn't your other friends have told you if they were going to be in the area?"

"I dunno. Not always."

Beast Boy scratched his head, "Raven doesn't have too many friends… I think I know… all … of them…" he trailed off as he spotted the dark Titan standing in the corner of the store, holding a baby-tee up to the slim torso of the blonde girl she was shopping with. Hanna blinked at him, then looked over at the pair.

"You know her friend?"

"I…" Beast Boy couldn't talk.

Raven suddenly looked up, then over at them. Hanna swore she grew even paler when she saw Beast Boy. The green changeling took a staggering step forward and held out a shaking hand, "Terra?" he whispered.

Hanna's head snapped around and she locked eyes with Raven. As the violet eyed girl saw the hurt and betrayal start to form in the blue eyes of her pregnant friend, she stepped forward, "Hanna, Gar… I can explain…"

Hanna turned and ran from the store, and Beast Boy just looked at Raven dumbly. Tara stepped up next to the dark Titan and whispered, "Um… busted?"

"Yeah…" Raven sighed, "Busted. I have to go after Hanna."

"And leave me along with him?" she motioned at the dumb-struck Beast Boy, "Hell no! I'll go after Hanna, you talk to my favorite stalker."

"He stalked you?"

"Only for a bit. And he was really nice about letting me go to class and stuff."

"Why are we talking about this? Let's just… fine. I'll talk to him, you find Hanna and make sure she doesn't do anything stupid."

"Okay." Tara nodded and took off after Hanna. She paused next to BB and gave him a helpless look. After a moment, she clomped him on the shoulder, "Nice to see you again, Beast Boy." And then she took off running.

Beast Boy looked back over at Raven, who had walked up in front of him. As he stared at her, his expression clouded with anger. "Okay," she said, "let's take this somewhere else." And they vanished in a cloud of black energy.

* * *

Hanna stumbled into the same court yard she had been kidnapped from by Shrike and his ninjas back in February, and collapsed onto a bench. She leaned forward and screamed into her hands as she burst into sobs.

"Fucking… Raven… bitch…" she punched the bench and jerked her hand back as her knuckles split open and started bleeding, "God _damnit_!"

A voice split through her sobs and she froze when she heard it. It was all too horribly familiar, forever etched into her memory from the worst night of her life, "Hello, Hanna."

She jerked her head around and looked around the court yard, finding it completely empty. Finally, her eyes rested on the form of the last man she ever wanted to see in the world. Her voice was flat as she replied, "Hi Brad."

Brad Wessman had defiantly seen better days. There was a very evident scar running across his right cheek, wide and ugly, connecting with the misshapen lump that bulged from his lower jaw. Apperently the reconstructive surgery hadn't gone as well as he had hoped it would. Hanna noticed he moved with a pronounced limp, and he kept his left arm close to his body.

"Still recovering?" she asked in the same dead tone of voice, though there was a tremor to it now.

"Yeah. Will be for another year."

"Shitty." Hanna brushed at the tears on her face, smearing her own blood there from her bleeding hand. "Learn your lessen then?" a note of anger crept into the tremor.

"Not that any girls will ever speak to me with a face like this, but yeah. I did."

"Good to hear. What do you want?"

"I want to be able to see my kid. Is it a boy or a girl?"

"A boy. And you'll be coming no where near _my_ son." She scowled, "His Godmother wouldn't approve."

"And who the hell is she?"

"Raven Roth. She's a Teen Titan."

"Like the one that did this to me." He growled.

"Prove it." Hanna growled back.

"Look, Hanna, I just want to be able to help raise my own kid. Is that too much to ask?"

"Yes. You raped me Brad. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't call the cops right now."

"There's no restraining order. You couldn't get one anyway, since all you did was have your little green fuck-shit boyfriend beat me up."

"Nothing less than what you deserved."

"No one deserves what I've been through." He started forward, "You will let me see this kid, Hanna."

"No fucking way. Don't you come near me." Hanna got up off the bench and started backing away, "Get away!"

"No tough words now?" Brad growled as he marched forward, "Still scared of me, Hanna?"

"Don't touch me! Help! Someone help me-" Brad shot forward and back handed her to the ground. Hanna cried out as she landed, and spit a little blood. She looked away from him as Brad reached forward to grab her.

Suddenly, his shadow left her with a resounding _crack!_ Looking back, she saw him stumbling away as a chunk of rock landed on the ground near by. Another stone flew out of no where and slammed into his shoulder as he staggered away, clutching at his head, where blood flowed freely from a wound there.

There was the sound of clomping boots, then suddenly a blonde girl with a scowl on her face was vaulting over the bench Hanna had been sitting on. She charged the staggered Brad and hockey checked him off his feet and into a wall. As he fell to the ground, she hauled back a boot and slammed it into his ribs, making him cry out.

"Terra?" Hanna whispered.

"Don't you touch her you sick sack of shit!" Tara screamed and lifted an arm up. Bringing her fist down as hard as she could, she slugged him in the mouth as he looked up. He hit the ground with another grunt, and Tara kicked him again for good measure.

Rushing back, she reached down and grabbed Hanna's arm, hauling her up to her feet, "Dude, we have to get out of here. I'm not going to jail for assaulting _his_ sorry ass."

"Yeah…" Hanna stared in awe at the girl who'd just saved her. "Who… are you…"

"My name is Tara. Raven tells me I used to be a Titan." She flashed a grin at Hanna, "Might be true, after that little stunt, huh?"

Hanna's face split into a grin as they ran back into the mall, "Maybe… thanks."

"No problem… let's get you fixed up though. We can get a cab to my place."

* * *

A guard outside the Third National bank looked up at the sky as he smoked his last cigarette. The sky was clear, but the new moon made it kind of dark. He took one last drag and tossed the butt away, "This job sucks."

He looked back down at the ally behind the bank and locked eyes with the black clad, pink haired young woman in front of him.

"Don't worry." She told him, "You'll be fired in the morning." And she punched him in the temple, sending him into unconsciousness.

Jinx looked up to see Shimmer crouching on a ledge just above the security camera that covered the door the guard had come out. It had been turned into a clump of dirt. "You ready?" the red head called.

"Born ready." Jinx grinned back, and Shimmer jumped down. Together, they walked into the bank.

* * *

Closing Notes: And now the fun part begins... right after you review. 


	6. Making Up, Falling Down

Ties That Bind

A Teen Titans Fan Fiction by Jacob McDonald

Opening Notes - As the semester winds down, I find myself with a little bit of free time. So here's the next chapter! On a side note, yesterday was my birthday. I'm officially closer to 30 that I am to 20 now. 26 feels younger than 25 though, somehow…

Edit: This didn't send out a chapter update email the first time I posted it, so I'm trying again.

Standard disclaimers apply. I don't own Teen Titans.

* * *

Chapter Five – Making Up, Falling Down

* * *

Robin frowned at his T-Comp as he finished attaching his cape to his uniform, "What do you mean you can't get a hold of anyone else?" he demanded. 

Cyborg blinked back at him, _"Just how it sounds, Robbie. Raven, Beast Boy and Starfire aren't answering. Either they lost their coms somehow, or they're ignoring them."_  
"Starfire requested the uptown patrol tonight, so she's probably just too busy window shopping to pay attention." Robin rolled his eyes with a helpless grin, "BB and Raven should be answering though."

_"Are you and Star cool now?"_ Cy looked a little worried.

"Yeah." Robin nodded, "I think we are. I just… I need to work some stuff out, but she's forgiven me for being a total jerk."

_"Good."_ Cyborg nodded, _"Um… since I know you'll rip my servos out if we don't keep you in the loop, I thought I'd let you know that Speedy, Troia and myself have been working the Slade angle."_

Robin nodded, "Thanks. I've been a bit distracted today."

_"Not a problem… um…"_ the half robotic Titan looked a little shifty.

"What is it, Vic? You can tell me anything, you know that right?"

_"Yeah… thing is… we think you should let us handle this whole Slade connection."_ He looked worried.

Robin paused, then nodded slowly, "Okay… my track record concerning Slade isn't that stellar… you might be right. Just… keep me posted."

Cy looked relieved, _"Thanks, Dick. What are you going to do tonight?"_

"I'm going to patrol the East End. It might be getting too close to Slade for you guys, but I'm going to try and hunt down Ravager. See if she can tell me anything."

Now Cyborg looked concerned, _"Not a good idea. She killed four men last night in cold blood, Robin. She won't hesitate to put those swords in you either."_

"I can handle myself, Cy."

_"I still think-"_

"Vic!" Robin laughed, "I can go toe to toe with Slade…his daughter can't be any better than he is."

Cyborg sighed, _"Fine… okay. Just be careful, okay?" _

"If I can." Robin nodded with a grin, "Let's go do our jobs, eh?"

_"Sounds good. I'll be here at the Tower tonight… Donna had to go back to Gateway City for a day to get some intel, and I think Roy is meeting a DEO buddy of his somewhere tonight."_

"That means I'll have to track down Raven and Beast Boy to cover the rest of the city patrol. Okay. See you latter, Vic."

_"Stay safe."_ And Cyborg signed off.

Robin tucked his T-comp away and walked out of his room.

* * *

In an upscale apartment near the art district, just a mile and a half walk from JCU's main campus, Ami snuggled into the arms of Janice in her bedroom, satisfied that the sheets once again smelled like Sunflowers perfume mixed with a hint of Tommy Girl. 

Which was of course, Ami's fragrance of choice.

The red haired girl sighed in a contented manner, and Janice's mouth curled into a grin as she slid her hand down the back of her roommates pajama pants.

"Not tonight, Baby." Ami mumbled sleepily, "I'm exhausted, and I want to get an early start rounding the girls up for tomorrow night."

Janice just smiled a little wider as she picked up Ami's hand and placed it over her own breast. The smaller girl squeezed once, then leaned up a little and kissed her lover's jaw, "What did I just say?"

"Can't blame a girl for tryin' can ya'?" Janice replied, then hugged a little harder, "Ah'm just glad you're with meh ta'night."

"It'll be every night if I can help it." Ami muttered in a sleepy manner, then rested her head against Janice's breasts, "G'night…"

Janice continued to smile as Ami fell asleep right then.

* * *

Beast Boy glared at Raven. 

Raven glared back.

They'd been having the staring contest for well over an hour, and it was actually getting on Raven's nerves. She didn't have all night, and she wanted to make sure Hanna was okay, and that Tara wasn't too pissed at her, and-

"Ga!" Beast Boy threw his hands in the air and stomped a little ways away from her. They were on top of a building not far from the mall, where Raven's soul self had dumped them when she removed them so they wouldn't make a scene. He stomped back after a few moments and shouted, "I can't take this anymore! Just explain yourself!"

"What would you like me to explain?" Raven's voice was cold as ice.

Beast Boy apparently didn't notice or care, "Explain to me what you were doing hanging out with Terra like it was old times, while you and Robin told me specifically to stay away from her and let her live a normal life." He leveled his best animal-gonna-eat-you look at her. She thought he must have been practicing in a mirror or something because he was getting darn good at it.

Raven choose her words carefully, "I… I've gained a sense of normalcy for the first time in my life by hanging out with the girls. After a while, I started to miss the first female friend I'd had that had really been able to communicate with me… Kori is great, but Earth still baffles her every now and then. Terra understood… things."

"I get that. I miss her too. So why can you hang out with her, while I have to stay away."

"Because I treat her like a normal eighteen-year-old girl named _Tara_." Raven emphasized the difference in the way the names sounded. "You would just want her to be our old team-mate… I'm happy hanging out with who she is now."

He shook his head, "You've been hiding this for how long?"

"A few months."

"A few months?!?"

Raven frowned in annoyance, "I gave her back her old com so she could get in touch with me whenever she wanted to. If you ever bothered to check yours you would have seen she was back on the network."

"So wait… who else knows?"

"Who else other than myself would ever check the standing of Titan Communicators in the area on a daily basis?"

Beast Boy swore fluently in English, then in British English. Raven arched an eyebrow. He'd been watching too many movies again. BB turned back to her and glared, "How long has Robin known?"

"Since the day I first contacted her."

"When were you going to tell me?" his look faded form angry to hurt.

Raven looked away, "I…" she was at a loss for a second, then looked down at her feet miserably, "I was just waiting for this to happen. Because I'm a coward. Because I didn't want to face you and admit…"

His hand fell on her shoulder, and she looked up into his eyes. The tears there matched hers, and she threw her arms around his shoulders and sobbed into his neck, "I didn't want to admit that I missed her too… so much… at least as much as you!"

"No one misses her more than I do." Beast Boy's voice was harsh for a moment, then became gentle, "But you shouldn't be afraid to come to me when you're scared, Raven. Or be afraid to admit your true feelings to me. You did it for Roy for crying out loud, and he's an insensitive prick."

Raven laughed a little and pulled away, "He is kind of a jerk, isn't he?"

"I imagine that's one of the reasons you like him so much." Beast Boy grinned back at her, then sighed, "Speaking of significant others… do you think my girlfriend and my old back-from-the-dead girlfriend are okay?"

Raven nodded, "If there's one thing I can guarantee about today, it's that Hanna and Tara both made a new friend."

* * *

Tara squinted at Hanna's elbow and dabbed at it with a disinfectant soaked cotton ball, "So that was the jerk, huh?" 

"You mean Brad?" Hanna looked over at the blonde girl that was patching up her minor wounds, "Yeah, he's the one that…" she motioned to her belly, "did this to me."

Tara tossed the bloodied cotton ball in the trash with disgust, "I hope I broke his ribs."

"Gar already did that once… though I can't say I'm disappointed you were there to do it again." Hanna looked at her elbow as Tara retrieved a bandage, "So… um… I thought you died."

Tara took her arm and applied the bandage with care, "That's what Raven tells me. Only, somehow I got brought back, had a whole new memory put in my head, was adopted by the people who I now know as my Mom and Dad, and spent several years in this new identity with no knowledge of my past life."

"That's… wild. You believe it?"

"Raven says my soul is the same… that it can't be changed."

"Huh." Hanna frowned, "I can't believe she didn't tell me about you."

"Why?" Tara rubbed the other girls arm in a friendly manner, "Are you afraid I'll try and steal BB away from you?"

Hanna looked worried, "Well… you were his first true love and stuff… he and I have talked about you… what you were like, and how you made him feel. He says he feels the same way about me, but…"

"Hanna, look…" Tara cast around for words, "I'm a different person now. I mean, like, really. New memory, new feelings, new ways of thinking… some of the personality I had before is still there, or so Raven says, but now… well, to be completely honest with you, your friend Becka has more to worry about with me than you do."

"What?" Hanna frowned, "Why?"

"Um… I have a class at JCU with Chad Doxon… he and I hit it off really well the first day, and we've been hanging out in class ever since… I can't tell if he's interested in me or if he's just really friendly."

Hanna grinned, "Chad's a really friendly guy… but I guess we'll know soon one way or another. Becka was going to call him and make a date for next week."

"Oh good." Tara looked relieved, "That tension was killing me." She stood up from her couch and walked over to her inflatable chair, flopping down and kicking back. She put her bare feet up on the coffee table and arched an eyebrow at Hanna, "So… you want to hang out for a bit? I'm guessing Raven is going to come after us in a little while."

"Cassie is like that."

"Who?"

"Oh, um… Cassandra is her middle name. It's what she used when we first met her undercover at WJCIE, so it's just what we call her now."

"Ah. It sounds weird. She's always just been Raven to me."

"I know. But I think it makes her feel more normal, and that's half the reason she hangs out with us."

"What's the other half?" Tara grinned.

"To get away from her man-whore boyfriend and Robin's ego. Between the two of them, she's on testosterone overload half the time." Hanna giggled.

Tara laughed as well, "I hear that. Man!"

"What?"

"I'm just so glad I got to finally meet you! You're every bit as cool as Raven said you would be."

Hanna blushed, "Thanks. You're pretty cool too… um… you're sure you don't like my boyfriend, right?"

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't think he was cute and endearing, but that's all. I'm not in love with Beast Boy." Tara smiled, "Don't worry. I'm not into boyfriend stealing."

"Oh, good." Hanna smiled wider, "It's always good to have more friends, I say. It's also hard to make them when you're seventeen and pregnant."

"Well, I love babies." Tara grinned, "You need any help at all, you call me."

"I could use some help baby-proofing my apartment. Gar's been too busy to help lately."

"Is he gonna step up for Daddy-Duty?"

"Yeah. He's a great guy."

"No kidding." Tara stood up, "You hungry? I don't mean to brag, but I make a mean pot of spaghetti."

"Tara," Hanna replied with a laughed, "if you ever get pregnant, you'll discover that you're always hungry when eating for two."

* * *

Jinx slunk around a corner and crouched low as the third guard of the night walked into range. He swept his flashlight over to where she was, but she wasn't there anymore, having crept past him in the shadows as he'd been inspecting the other side of the hall. It was easy. 

Criminally easy.

If Shimmer hadn't been right behind her, Jinx would have been tempted to just sneak all the way to the vault, clean it, and sneak back out without any guards realizing what had happened. With two people on a job though, that kind of stealth was impossible.

So she quickly darted forward and chopped the guard across the back of his neck. Lowering him to the ground silently, she looked up as Shimmer walked into the hall.

The red head whispered, "I've been shutting down the cameras up until this point, but they're going to realize half of their visual is down soon. From here we may not be able to be as stealthy."

"Fine." Jinx nodded. She'd known that it'd be soon when she would have to fall back on quick take downs, no matter how loud. As she turned to continue down the hall that would take them to the lobby, then across it to the side chamber where the vault was, she noticed something bad.

There was light shining through the doorway that led out to the lobby.

"Shit!" she hissed. They were totally exposed, and there were no sufficient shadows to hide in nearby. Especially when the guard that was coming (for it couldn't be anything else) saw his downed buddy. Only one option.

Jinx ran forward as Shimmer hissed at her to get back. As soon as the next guard stepped into the hall, he called out, "Hey, John! You forgot your-" but didn't get to finish his sentence. Jinx caught him by the throat and cut off his words by closing his windpipe with one hand. Yanking him off his feet, she forced down with all her weight, slamming him into the hard marble floor, rendering him unconscious very quickly.

His flashlight clattered to the ground.

Jinx didn't even bother whispering as she uttered, "Shit fucking hell…" and dashed through the door into the lobby. Shimmer rubbed a hand down her face and called out, "Jinx! Be careful!"

But Jinx was already halfway across the room. There was another guard that looked totally shocked by the half-crazed looking girl that was suddenly charging for him. As he reached back for his gun, Jinx kicked out a leg in the full stride of her run and caught him right between his wide stance. As he made a choked 'eep!' she slammed a flat palm into his face, knocking him out.

The pink blur didn't even slow down as she made her way to the next guard, who was just coming out of the security office off the lobby. A flying kick to his chest blasted him into the wall, then she followed with a double fisted blow to his ribs, wincing as she heard a sharp crack. As he gasped for breath, she performed a perfect Chuck Norris round-house kick and blasted him off his feet and out of consciousness.

The final lobby guard jumped out of the door to the office even as he was drawing his gun. Jinx saw the weapon and felt her anxiety start to take over. He was going to shoot her. He had just seen her take down three of his buddies without breaking a sweat, and now he was just going to shoot first and ask questions latter, and-

A spike of glass hurled through the air and buried its self between the man's first and second knuckles of his trigger hand. As he howled in pain and dropped his gun, Jinx moved on instinct. She lashed out low with a sweep kick, and followed with a wide grab from her left arm. She caught him as he was flying off his feet and flipped him in mid-air, ramming him back into the ground on his neck and shoulders. Just to make sure he stayed down, she dropped an elbow hard into his groin then kneed him in the gut to send him slamming into the wall next to his buddy.

It was all over in less than thirty seconds, and Jinx found herself breathing hard. She still wasn't used to this level of combat with her reduced lung capacity.

Shimmer was next to her a moment latter, hauling her to her feet, "Come on, you pink eyed terror. There's no way the vault guards didn't hear all that, and you just plastered our faces all over their closed circuit. Into the office."

Jinx let her friend shove her into the office, where the red haired villainess went about turning all the equipment and tapes that had recorded them into solid granite. As soon as she was finished, she turned back to Jinx with a light grin, "That last guy almost had you. Are you sure you can make it through the vault?"

"Why? What do you mean?"

"The guards in there will most likely have guns drawn and be waiting. I disabled the alarm system, so they can't call for help, but it's going to be a gambit of death in there, Jen."

The pink haired girl nodded slowly, then steeled herself and nodded more firmly, "Then let's go."

* * *

The four guards inside the vault had taken up defensive stances near the back of the enclosed area, just in front of the actual storage room. They all had their guns drawn, and were prepared for the heavy steel door to be blown down any second by high explosives, which was the only way anyone short of Superman was getting through it. 

Suddenly, and without preamble, the door turned into glass, and the forms of two young women could be seen on the other side of it. One of them held up a hand and pink energy lanced into the glass, shattering it and sending it flying towards them in a deadly rain of projectiles.

The two men in front were smart enough to protect their faces and necks from the flying glass, but both took several deep hits to their torsos. They fell with moans of pain. The two men behind them were hit with almost nothing, having been protected by the two in front, and suffered only minor cuts and bleeding.

That's when the pink girl cart-wheeled into the vault, and began a series of evasive gymnastics. The two guards opened fire, but she seemed almost impossible to hit. Once, a bullet ricocheted and grazed her arm, but she didn't seem to notice it. She ended her acrobatic charge by flipping feet first into the face of one of the guards, blasting him to the ground. The other guard turned to point his gun down at her now crouched form, but she snapped a foot out high, kicking the gun from his hand and up into the air. She twirled around and brought her other leg across the back of his, sending him to his knees. She finished her spin by twirling up to her feet and holding out a hand.

The gun dropped into it, and she pulled back the hammer as she pointed it down at his skull. The guard looked up at her with wide, frightened eyes.

"Whoa." Shimmer cracked a grin as she stepped into the vault, "That was impressive."

"Shut it." Jinx snapped, then turned back to the guard, "Keys to the vault?"

He pointed at one of the downed men, and Shimmer had the keys a moment later, "Got 'em."

"Good." Jinx glared back down at the man and he suddenly got a dawning look on his face, "What?"

"You're that girl from Jump that the Titans are always fighting! Jinx!"

"Shit." Jinx and Shimmer intoned in tandem. Jinx continued, looking up at her friend, "What do we do?"

"Well, he knows who you are now, which means the Titans will know in an hour after we leave here. You'll never be welcome in Jump again, and all your new little friends will never see you again." Jinx was just about to make an angry retort when Shimmer cut her off, "Unless…"

"Unless what, Shimmer?"

"Oh, so now you use my name too?"

Jinx blushed, "Uh… sorry."

"That cinches it then." Shimmer shook her head with a sigh, "Kill him, Jinx."

Jinx locked pink eyes with the green ones across from her, "No." she said.

The black leather clad vixen smiled in an almost kind sort of way, "Jenny, baby… it's not exactly a question of choice at this point. You're in too deep. You'll have to play by the rules now."

"Selinda-"

"Look, Jen. We're standing in a vault full of money we're about to steal, our faces and names exposed, and the only witness that can bust us is right here. Unless you want to go back to prison…" she trailed off and stared down at the man kneeling on the floor between them. He was sweating and praying silently under his breath.

Shimmer looked back up, "Pull the trigger, Jinx."

* * *

Starfire landed on top of a sky scrapper in the uptown shopping area, some fifty floors off the ground, and smiled as she heard the shuffle of feet behind her. She looked over her shoulder to see Red-X emerge from the shadows. "I didn't know if you'd come." He said in an un-easy manner. 

"Of course I came. We had a wonderful time last night, did we not?"

"Well, the food was great, and the flying tour of was awesome. Then the walk down memory lane… I had no idea you came from such a difficult back ground."

"And I had no idea of _any_ back ground you may have come from… Gregory."

"How many times do I have to ask you to call me Greg?"

Starfire giggled, "Only that one more time. I will remember from now on."

"Fine. And I can still call you Kori?"

"Most assuredly."

"Alright then, Kori… what do you want to do tonight?"

"I thought you might like to see what it is we do on patrols. You can shadow me while I do my sweep of the city."

He snorted, "What do you think I've been doing for the past two months?"

"Yes, but before you never helped in any apprehensions."

"And I'm not about to start now… I'm interested in you, Kori, not your job."

"But… we could never… and Robin and I…"

"Robin… the guy who treats you like a resource? The guy who thinks of you as nothing more than a girl to use for sex and crime fighting?"

"That is not true… we made very passionate love this afternoon…"

Red-X snorted again, "Was it love making, or a desperations fuck? Come on, Kori… be true to your emotions like you were telling me Tameranians are. What do you really think of Robin the Boy Wonder?"

"I think he is brave, and loyal, and kind, and…" she trailed off, "And he is also obsessive, and takes too much on himself, then takes his stress out on others. He can be… very difficult."

The master thief was suddenly right next to her, taking her hand, "Not that it'd be simple in any way to be going out with a guy who'd just as soon steal all the valuables out of your Tower as he would hang out with your friends, but… you and me… it could be… very simple."

"Greg… what are you implying?"

He paused, then spoke again, "Why don't you come back to my place, and I can show you some more about myself."

Star paused for a moment, then smiled, "I… I think I would like that very much."

* * *

Raven and Beast Boy materialized in Tara's apartment at half past seven. They looked around and spotted Tara and Hanna sitting on stools at the kitchen counter, chatting and eating Italian. Both girls looked up as they materialized, but it was Hanna who jumped out of her seat, "Gar!" she shouted happily and rushed over to him, hugging him fiercely, "Oh, I'm so glad to see you!" 

"Yeah, me too, I…" he trailed off as he felt something on her arm, and pushed her to arms length. He took in her slightly scrapped and battered appearance, and stuttered out, "What the hell… what happened to you?"

"Oh…" Hanna bit her lip and looked away, "Brad found me… he roughed me up a little when I told him he was going to stay the fuck away from my baby."

Beast Boy was suddenly seeing red, "I guess one hospital stay wasn't enough for him… guess I have work to do tonight after all…"

"Gar, don't worry about it… Tara showed up and saved me. She threw rocks at him and punched him and kicked him… I think she might have re-broken some of his ribs."

Raven's gaze snapped over to the blonde girl at the counter, who finished slurping up a noodle, then giggled nervously, "Uh… yeah, I did that."

"Titan's to the rescue, huh?" Raven arched an eyebrow.

"More like concerned friend." Tara stood up and walked over to the other three with a warm smile, "Look… Beast Boy-"

"Call me Gar." He said reflexively.

"Gar then." Tara smiled wider, "I've grown up a little since we first met at my school, and we had that whole uncomfortable thing… and I'd like to try and be friends with you… after all, I'm going to be hanging out with Hanna quite a bit from now on, I have a feeling."

He arched an eyebrow as well, and turned a questioning gaze to his girlfriend. Hanna giggled, "I drafted her for baby proofing."

"Oh… ah ha." He chuckled, "Another poor sod falls victim to your sinister ploys to get them alone in your apartment."

"Except I'm sure Tara will be able to satisfy me." Hanna winked.

Beast Boy clutched at his heart, "Oh… shit girl, that wounds me."

Raven rolled her eyes, "If there's nothing else, I think I'd like to go change and beat the hell out of some bad guys tonight. Robin's been calling and we've been ignoring him."

Beast Boy waved a hand, "You go ahead. I think… well, I'd like to hang out a little while… get to know an old friend again." He looked over at Tara, then back at Hanna.

Tara nodded happily, "Sure thing. Hanna and I were discussing all kinds of baby plans, so we'll have to get you up to speed, Daddy."

As BB groaned and the two girls dragged him over to the sofa, Raven vanished into a pool of blackness at her feet, smiling the whole way.

* * *

Robin tossed a thug into a dumpster and threw a snap kick behind him without looking, taking another off his feet. As he twirled around and hurled a small explosive disk, he was already reaching for his handcuffs. The explosive detonated directly in front of the two gang members who were charging down the ally at him, and they were blown from their feet. 

Snorting, Robin bent down to cuff the one he'd slammed into the dumpster. As he was pulling the man's arms back around, he heard a whistling sound. There was one more and he was quiet enough to sneak up on the Boy Wonder. Robin knew he couldn't dodge, so he braced for the impact of whatever weapon was being swung at his skull.

There was a muffled shout of surprise from behind him, and no blow fell. Chancing a glance, he saw a man with a pipe being dragged backwards by tendrils of black energy. As Raven materialized, she threw a hard right into his face, knocking him out and to the ground. The dark haired Titan stared down at her leader and arched an eyebrow.

"What?" Robin grumped at her.

"Sloppy."

"Shut up, Raven."

Robin put his handcuffs away and simply dragged the man he was going to bind to his feet, slapping him twice to wake him up. As he came to, the Boy Wonder shoved him roughly into the wall of the building they were next to and growled in his face, "I wont ask nicely again. What do you know about the Ravager?"

The man looked over Robin's shoulder and saw Raven glaring at him with burning white eyes from under her hood. He gulped hard and stuttered out, "She's been runnin' around killin' anyone that gets in her way! It's like she's some kind of killer Titan, saving girls and kids…" he gulped even harder at the glare Robin was suddenly giving him.

"Poor choice of words." Raven intoned, and the man had time to start crying before Robin's fist put him out again. Dropping the thug to the ground, Robin turned back to his only present team mate.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm in a mood. I want to help beat thugs senseless."

"I don't want you help."

"I know. I don't care."

Robin paused as he made to stalk away and turned back to regard her critically, "Excuse me?"

"I'll even put up with your snide comments and your bad mood. I just want to beat someone up."

"Not me for once?"

"Oh no… I'd love to beat you up. I just know I can't."

"Hmm… there's that old wisdom I've missed so much."

"As a show of good faith, I won't attempt to destroy your soul for that comment."

Robin laughed a little, "Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

The two of them stared at each other for a few moments, then Robin turned back to the mouth of the ally and started walking. Raven floated along next to him a few seconds latter. "Can you attempt to sense out Ravager's presence?"

"Unfortunately, no. She's a gifted clairvoyant, and has a measure of protection against mental intrusion. She's shielded from me."

"In that case, we need to draw her out. If she's keeping women and children alive, like Ami, then we need bait… do you think Janice or Becka would be willing to-"

"Don't even go there." Raven's voice held a note of danger that Robin was smart enough not to mess with.

"What about Tara? Is she ready to be a Titan again?"

"Oh, uh… Beast Boy found out about her." Raven blushed as he turned a cold glare on her.

"I'm willing to let that slide for now." He said in a clipped tone, "But we'll have to tell the others soon."

"Fine… I'll do it."

"See that you do. So she's not an option?"

"No. I'd be more comfortable if it was someone who could take care of themselves… another Titan, maybe?"

"Bumble Bee is too far away, and has her own team to lead anyway, she already knows Starfire, Troia and Jenny… I can't think of anyone else nearby."

"Argent?"

"Toni is in New York right now. Kole is in Africa… wait… what about that kid that you saved from Mallah?"

"Melvin?" Raven laughed a little, "You're kidding right?"

Robin stopped walking and looked at her.

Raven stopped as well and shook her head, "You can't be serious. She's only ten years old."

"Ten years old and in command of a huge clawed bear avatar." Robin corrected, "She's got a com, Raven, that makes her a Titan."

"Come on, Robin!" Raven threw her hands in the air, "She's a kid!"

"She's in LA. She could be here in five hours, and we can set up a sting for tomorrow. She's able to protect herself, and play the part of a child in trouble very easily. She's almost ideal."

"But…" Raven cast around for excuses, but found herself coming up short. Melvin was a talented manifester of astral constructs, and she knew what kind of danger she could be in. She'd accepted the com, and knew the risks. "But… damnit, Robin, she's one of _my_ kids!" Raven crossed her arms, "Those children mean something to me."

"I know." He put a hand on her shoulder, "And I'll let you be there the whole time. Just stay in the shadows and keep her safe."

Raven sighed and nodded, "Okay. We can call her foster parents and tell them we need her."

"Good." Robin smiled, "Now let's go find a gang of thugs that're vandalizing something and pummel them into next Tuesday."

Raven laughed a little and leaned forward, resting her head on his shoulder. She spoke softly, "Dick… I've missed being able to talk to you…"

"I know." He whispered back, "I've missed talking to you too."

"Why are we fighting so much?"

"I don't know." He shook his head, "I just don't know."

Raven looked up at him and smiled, and he smiled back. They both lost themselves in the relief of not being angry with one another anymore, and it was a full thirty seconds before they realized they were kissing.

_Kissing._

Raven broke away first, stumbling back and away from her team leader, and staring at him with wide eyes, "Robin… what the fuck?"

Robin stared back, his mouth slightly open, "What… we didn't… did you just kiss me?"

"Did you just kiss _me_?"

"I didn't… what the hell? Why did you kiss me?"

"I wouldn't… I mean… it's not like we have… feelings for each other…"

Robin nodded suddenly, "Yeah! We've been fighting and we were just so relieved to not be anymore that we… just…" he looked helpless, "kissed."

"Holy shit…" Raven buried her face in her hands, "I can't believe we did that."

"Please don't tell Roy… he'd kill me."

"Of course I'm not telling my boyfriend I kissed another guy! Especial one of his best friends!"

"We just… I mean… I'm sorry. I'm already a cheating bastard, but I didn't mean to turn you into one too…"

"It's not like we were stripping off our clothes and having sex, Robin."

"I know, but… maybe we shouldn't patrol together tonight."

"Yeah." Raven nodded, "I think… I think I'll go find Speedy."

"Yeah." Robin nodded, then turned away, "I'll go… somewhere. Maybe back to the Tower to do some… research."

"Sure." Raven nodded, and noticed for the first time how red her cheeks were, "Uh… see ya." And she vanished.

Robin ran a hand down his own red face and looked up at the night sky, "Okay… stupid. What the hell is wrong with me?"

* * *

Starfire sat on the couch of an upscale penthouse apartment on top of one of the swankiest high rises in Jump City. She stared at Greg in an amused manner as he desperately tried to keep hold of his sobriety. 

"Can' buh-leeve yer not drunk…" he slurred, staring reproachfully at her. He pushed his seventh beer away from himself, refusing to drink the last of it.

"I do not see how it is my fault at all that my species can 'hold our liquor' better than humans." Starfire grinned as she downed the rest of _her_ seventh beer.

"S'yer freakish alien metab'alisim." Greg snorted, "Fuck, I can't talk."

"I believe you have had enough alcohol for one night, Greg." Star stood up and walked over to him, "While it is most fun to do the 'hanging out' with you while you are not terrorizing the city as your Red-X persona, I fear it is time I put you to bed and finished my patrol for the night."

"Sounds good, sweet heart… you and me can crawl inta bed and-"

"I will not be joining you in your bed, Greg."

"Oh, so those kisses last night and the flirting and the kissing tonight were just… what?"

Star looked away, "That is… the situation is complicated."

"You seem to be running into a lot of those lately."

"Do not anger me…" she warned in a low voice.

"I just want to do what you've been hinting at wanting to do for the past two days, Kori. Com'on… just for tonight."

"I was tardy returning to the Tower once this week already." She replied, but her resolve was crumbling. He really was a handsome young man, with a shock of longish black hair that fell loose around his ears. The casual jeans and long sleeved shirt her wore did nothing to hide his finely honed body. He was built just a little heavier than Robin, but with a little less grace.

"Kori… I told you before… you and me, we could be un-complicated. You need to un-complicate your life… come to bed."

"I will not… Robin…"

Greg stood up suddenly so he was right next to her, and kissed her. Starfire melted into him and soon found her hands running up his bare chest, pushing his shirt up. As she felt his hands begin unzip her skirt on the side and slide it down along her hips, she gave into the burning desire and lost herself in his caresses.

* * *

Jinx stared down at the poor guard kneeling on the floor between her and Shimmer and felt a bead of sweat drip down her back. The gun in her hand was steady, aimed directly at his left temple, not a quiver. She could do it. She'd killed people before, she could do it again. This was the only witness that had gotten a good look at them, and he was the only one who could bust them… 

Jinx looked up at Shimmer and her eyes grew wide. She realized suddenly and unexpectedly that she was no longer Jinx of the HIVE. She was no longer a killer and a thief. She was more of a heroine. More of a…

"No." she repeated and raised the gun up. Leveling it directly between Shimmers eyes, she spoke in a clear voice, "I'm not a bad girl anymore, Shimmer. I'm Jinx… a Titan."

"I'm really sorry to hear that." Shimmer frowned, "Drop the gun before I have to hurt you, Jenny."

Jinx wasn't stupid enough to argue with her friend. She was pretty confident she could take her without the weapon anyway, so she tossed it aside. Shimmer flexed a hand and smiled in a wicked way.

The guard choked suddenly and keeled over. Jinx jumped back from him and watched in horror as a green slime started to pour from his mouth.

"What the fuck did you do to him?"

"I turned the air in his lungs into a toxic sludge. It probably flash fried his insides, before the acid killed him." She shrugged and nudged the corpse with her toe. "Had to be done. Let's finish this job, Jenny."

"What? You can't… I just… Selinda!"

"Jinx, look," the red haired thief turned to her friend with an exasperated sigh, "You're in too deep. If you weren't going to kill that guy, I had to. If you want to go running to Robin and asking to be a Titan after this is over, that's fine. But if we don't finish this now, you're going to be in jail before the sun comes up tomorrow."

Jinx glared at her grimly, then looked away, "Fine. But as soon as we get out of here, I'm going back to Jump."

"That's okay. I'll even take all the credit for the job. Pink hair and red hair look a long alike in this light."

"Sure. Whatever. Let's just finish." Jinx stomped over to a drawer in the vault and opened it. She began to shovel out money onto the floor and Shimmer walked over with a bag a moment latter, and started filling it.

* * *

Beast Boy laughed as he watched Tara and Hanna argue over hair color. Hanna was debating dying hers with dark highlights, and Tara kept telling her it'd make her look like a hooker. A pregnant hooker. 

Hanna huffed one last time, "Fine. But I'm only going to trust you on this because our natural colors are so close. I never would have listened if Gar had told me not to." She stuck out her tongue at her boyfriend.

Tara chuckled, "He never would have told you not to. He'd have just nodded his head. 'Yes dear. Of course dear.'"

"Hey," Beast Boy interrupted "a smart man never argues."

"And that's what I love about him the most." Hanna grinned, "He's well trained. House broken too!"

"Enough picking on the animal boy." Tara wagged a finger, "He's had a lot to go through today too."

"Eh, I guess." Hanna shrugged, "Are you sure you don't need to be out on patrol or something baby?"

BB shrugged back, "I've been paying attention to my com. If anyone needs me, they'll call."

"Robin'll be pissed that you slacked off."

"Robin can go fuck himself. He's been a huge ass to Kori for the past couple weeks. When he starts treating us like a team again, we'll start listening to him again."

"Hmm." Hanna frowned at him, "Don't you think he might be going through a little rough patch of his own?"

"Well, if he'd actually talk to anyone about his problems, we'd be more than happy to help." BB shook his head, "I guess I can try talking to him tomorrow… see if he'll actually open up. Speedy's tried, I know, but even he can't break through that shell that Robin's thrown up."

"Well, let me know if I can help in any way." Hanna smiled, then her face lit up, "Oh! Tara! The girls and I are all getting together this weekend! You should come!"

"Oh… I don't know…" Tara looked worried all of a sudden, "I mean, Raven was trying to keep our little get together things a secret, and… I mean…"

"Come on, Tee." Beast Boy laughed a little, "You've already met Hanna, and you've gotten the uncomfortable bit with me out of the way. Raven wont care if Hanna brings you to the girl's night."

Tara stared at him for a moment, then nodded her head slowly, "You haven't called me Tee in… a long time."

He looked shocked, "You… remember?"

She nodded slowly, "Little bits. Raven's necklace. That nickname. I could probably walk right to my old room at the Tower… that seems to click somehow."

"Wow." Hanna smiled, "Well, maybe you'll remember, and maybe you wont, but I'm still glad I got to know you. You're just too much fun to _not_ know." Hanna reached over and shoved the other girl's arm, "And you're coming to hang out with us on Saturday whether you want to or not. I'll make Cassie teleport you if I have to, and trust me, that's just not fun."

"I've seen it." Tara shuddered, "Okay, you've convinced me."

"Sweet." Hanna grinned, then looked over to her boyfriend, "And you'll be able to make up for your missed patrol time then!"

"Great." He rolled his eyes, "I wonder how everyone is doing out there…"

* * *

Speedy looked up with a weak smile as Raven appeared next to him. She looked a little worried, but she smiled back when she saw him, "Hey." She said. 

"Hey yourself. What brings you to my humble corner of the city tonight?" he swept out a hand and motioned to the seedy looking lane of strip clubs and bars that sat smack in the middle of the industrial district of Jump. It was a good place to meet a contact if you didn't want to be seen.

"Just… worried." She glanced at him and saw a smile frown on his face, so she hurried to correct herself, "About Robin. We made up… kind of. We're not trying to kill each other anymore, anyway."

"Well that's good." Speedy reached over and hugged her with one arm. He muttered into her hair, "I talked to my contact from the DEO."

"And?"  
"She told me that all they really know about Slade is that he used to be US Military. Army Special Forces. Apparently he was part of a special experimental program of some sort back in the Seventies."

"The army was up to some weird stuff back then." Raven frowned, "It could explain his heightened levels of strength and speed though."

"And Rose's now." He replied, "From what Ami said she took out all four of those mooks like they were yesterday's trash. By Donna's report, she didn't fight like that at the attack on the school."

"She's changed… and there's something messing with her head." Raven frowned, "Whatever Slade did to her, it made her more like him."

* * *

Jinx climbed into the Jag, once more wearing normal civilian clothing, and slammed the door. Scowling at the dash, she tried to calm down before she jammed the key in the ignition and started the car. Shimmer had just killed that guard without so much as a second thought, and- 

"No." she growled. "Block it out, Jenny."

The passenger side door opened, and Shimmer stuck her head in. She dropped a duffle bag on the seat and sighed, "I know you're pissed, Jenny, but try to understand… I had to."

"I know you had to." Jinx snapped, "It's just… I wasn't ready for it. I never really wanted to kill anyone again."

"That's fine. I can see now that you're not cut out for this anymore." Shimmer smiled a little, "I'll be around Jump again in a week or so. Will it be okay if I stop by?"

"I have a phone. You can call me, you know." Jinx smile back weakly, "But no… not for a little while. Just let me… deal with this for a week or two."

"Okay… I'll call you later, fill you in on the cover up details." Shimmer started to back out of the car, but Jinx stopped her.

"Selinda! You forgot your bag."

She bent back down and frowned, "That's yours, Jen. Your cut."

"Oh." Jinx looked down at it, "I don't really… I mean, after that guard and everything…"

"Jenny, it's 1.3 million. Just take it."

Jinx stared for a second, then sighed. She really did need the money if she wanted to live much longer without actually finding a real job. "Fine. But don't expect me to get a taste for bank robbing again just because you let me run off with a million bucks."

"Wouldn't dream of it. This was your last job as a bad girl, Jinx." Shimmer winked, "You can go straight Titan from now until doomsday for all I care… just…"

"What?" Jinx frowned, "What's that look for?"

"Just don't fuck us out here, Jenny." Selinda looked serious, "I'd hate to have to kill you."

Jinx nodded slowly, "Sure."

"Alright then. I'll see you later." Shimmer backed away and shut the door.

With a frown and a worried sigh, Jinx put the car in gear and pulled out of the warehouse.

* * *

Robin stood at the edge of a three story building, looking down into the street in front of him. Reports from the police had four major conflicts between gangs happening in this block of apartment buildings in the past two weeks, so he'd been patrolling it extra heavy. 

Still, he needed to get back to his primary objective. No one seemed to know where Rose Wilson was, and if they did, the threat of bodily harm from the Boy Wonder wasn't making them talk. She could be out killing as he stood there brooding, and he was powerless to stop her unless he could get a handle on her movement patterns.

Then there was the thing with Raven. Normally he wouldn't let a thing like that interfere with work, but she was a good kisser. _Really_ good. Better than Jenny, and better than Star even. He lips were full, her breasts were soft, and she was…

He shook his head. She was his best friend's girlfriend was what she was. And she was _Raven_ for Christ's sake, he couldn't just… and he had a girlfriend of his own who he'd just made up with…

His focus was drawn back to the present and the roof top as he heard the sound of light footfalls landing at the back of the building. Bracing himself, Robin quickly flipped backwards and his eyes widened under his mask as two throwing stars whizzed under him, flying right through where his back had just been. He twisted in mid-air and came down with his staff out, deflecting another star and dodging right to flank his attacker.

The form of his assailant quickly tumbled out of the darkness and landed in front of him not ten feet away, twin short katans drawn. The mask left the bottom part of her face exposed, and the both eyes were still present, but the colors of the outfit were hard to miss. Black and orange, mettle plating to protect vital areas, and the chest bulging out because this version of his arch enemy had breasts.

"Ravager." Robin said in a grim voice.

"Hiya, Robin." She grinned, "I hear you've been looking for me."

Without preamble, she lunged in and attacked.

* * *

Closing Notes – This turned out a little differently than I had planned, but still really interesting. I think this is going in the direction that I want it to still though. Just with… a little Rae/Rob twist I wasn't expecting. You can't see the evil grin, but it's there. 

Oh, and next time…

Aside #2 – Robin vs. Ravager: Round One


	7. Aside 2: Robin vs Ravager: Round One

Ties That Bind

A Teen Titans Fan Fiction by Jacob McDonald

Opening Notes: Did I really need an excuse to write a 2600 word slug fest between Ravager and Robin? No, not really. I could have just put this in with no explanation and everyone would have been like, "Woo!" But it just happens to fit with the story, so there you go.

Standard disclaimers apply. I don't own Teen Titans.

* * *

Aside #2 – Robin vs. Ravager – Round One

* * *

Robin brought his staff up and caught Ravager's swords on it with a clang. The titanium of the staff held strong, and he shoved her away with a growl, "I don't want to fight you, Rose. Just tell me why you're running around killing people, and why you're working with Slade now! The Titans can help you… you don't need to be afraid of him!"

"Why would I be afraid of my own father?" Ravager circled, and Robin kept his eyes on her. She was like a cat, stalking a wounded bird. As she dove in once again, looking for an opening, Robin showed her how that analogy was highly inaccurate.

This bird was by no means wounded and helpless.

Ravager tumbled back across the rooftop after Robin kicked her in the face. She rolled to her feet and sneered at him through the blood dripping down her jaw, "You shouldn't hit a lady, Robin."

"I've beaten Slade before," Robin replied as he advanced on her, "and I think you know that if I can beat him, then I can beat you too."

"I think I may know a few tricks that Daddy doesn't." Ravager replied with a grin, and vaulted up into the air. Robin caught her slash at his head with his staff again, and tossed her to the side. Ravager twisted in mid-air and landed in a crouch, darting in under his still raised defenses and cutting at his midsection. It was only lightning-fast reflexes that kept Robin from literally spilling his guts.

He quickly jogged back and took up a defensive posture. She was much faster than Slade, even if she didn't have the power. Slade preferred hand to hand as well, where Robin was strongest, but Ravager seemed to be a little too fond of her swords to put them away any time soon. He'd need to get her at a disadvantage as quickly as possible if he wanted to win.

"Analyzing the fight?" she teased, "See, I don't need to do that. I'm better than that." And she attacked again, this time spinning in like a dervish, slashing at him in multiple angles and different speeds, making him work to block them all. Finally, one slipped through his guard as he blocked left and she suddenly changed direction, stabbing right. His arm was grazed and he hissed in pain.

She took a moment to laugh and her gloating cost her. Robin decided enough was enough. She wasn't the only one who knew how to go on an all out offensive. Ignoring the pain in his right arm, he swung his staff with all his might in a wide arch, forcing her to duck it. He followed his staff with a low sweep kick, knocking her to the side while she was crouched. As she fell to her back, he started swinging the staff like a club, slamming it into the rooftop as she rolled from side to side and back peeled to get out of his range. Robin pressed his attack and she was finally forced to take a hard hit across her forearm as she blocked one of his blows just to get out from under him.

Rolling to her feet, Ravager started after him again with her swords. Robin was ready this time though, and was better able to defend. After several moments of furious battle, he caught one of her swords extra hard and shoved against it, pushing it from her hand. Ravager cursed as she jumped back and held up her remaining sword in a defensive posture. "Nice move." She said, then her hand darted to her belt and back out, hurling throwing stars at him.

Robin ducked two and knocked the other three out of the air with his staff. As he finished his defense, she was already halfway to her fallen sword. By the time she scooped it up, he was on her, but she stopped suddenly and he ran right into her back. She bent slightly, and straightened as he fell on her, flipping him over in front of her. He landed hard on his back and she stabbed down at him with a gleam in her eyes.

Robin pushed up with his staff and stopped her stab at her wrists, just as the blades made penetration in his stomach and chest. The shallow puncture wounds hurt, but it was nothing serious. He wouldn't even bleed to death from cuts as shallow as had been made, so he quickly yanked his staff forward and shoved off with it, pulling both swords from Ravager's hands. She yelped in surprise as she suddenly found herself unarmed and facing a very angry Robin as he spun to his feet.

"Right." She grinned, "So it's gonna be like that, huh?"

"Give up, Rose." Robin growled, "This isn't a fight you can win."

"We'll see." And she lunged in at him. Robin blocked her first punch, then her second, then he returned it with one of his own. Ravager caught it on her shoulder intentionally and chopped down at his exposed elbow, but Robin pin wheeled his arm around and brought it back in a chop at her neck. She easily blocked it, but he was already bringing his other fist around to strike at her exposed ribs.

Ravager's hand suddenly shot out and she grabbed his wrist. His eyes widened as she threw a punch with her free hand directly into his face, blasting him back and sending him reeling. As he regained his focus, Robin cursed himself. There was no way she had seen that attack coming, which meant Raven had been right; she could catch glimpses of the future just before they happened, giving her a decided edge in a fight like this one.

As blood dripped from his nose, Robin quickly pushed the button on his belt that activated the Psionic Disruption Field. Ravager winced a little, but didn't seem to be in nearly the pain that Raven had been in. She mush not be psychically powerful enough for it to really hurt her.

"That's an interesting little toy." She frowned at it, "Now why would you have something like that around, hmm?"

"In case I need it." He replied and dashed in quickly. Ravager blocked his punch, and returned the attack with one of her own, which he dodged. They began a dance of vicious strikes and kicks, blocking and dodging, but neither getting in a solid hit.

"Which of your enemies are psionic though?" Ravager reasoned as they fought. She spoke casually, like the fight wasn't even winding her. "Maybe you keep it around in case Raven goes berserk again, like she did with Dr. Light. Or when she destroyed the world… Daddy told me all about that one."

"Your 'Daddy' caused that one." Robin growled, and his anger fueled his next punch, pushing through her defense and knocking her back a few feet. He pressed the attack and started pushing her back across the roof top.

"Deathstroke is a great man, you know." She continued, her voice a little strained this time, "You would know. He speaks very highly of you, admiring how you've put everything he's taught you to good use."

"Slade didn't teach me anything!" Robin shouted and kicked her in the ribs.

Ravager winced, but her body armor took most of the blow, "But he has, Robin. He taught you how to fight better, he taught you the rush you can get from hiding things from your friends, and he taught you how dark you really are inside." The young woman caught Robin's next kick and shoved back on him, making him flip out of her attack range and giving them a little space to regroup. Ravager grinned through blood smeared teeth, "He taught you how to hate, Robin, and that's one lesson you'll never forget."

Robin shouted something she didn't understand, and lunged at her. Ravager blocked the first punch, but the second knocked her back. He began to yell as he hammered away at her, leaving her with no other option except to block, "I'm nothing like him! He's a maniac bent on making the lives of everyone around him a living Hell! He's evil, and twisted! How can you let him manipulate you like this?"

"Daddy doesn't-"

"Of course he does, Rose! Do you think for a moment he's not using you to get to me? To get to the Titans? What's his plan? What is he trying to accomplish by starting this gang war?"

"Who says he started it?" Ravager stumbled back from Robin, right to the edge of the roof, "You know, the way you're going on now just proves everything I said…" as he paused and stared at her, she continued, "It's almost like having a brother again… except you're just far too yummy for that… maybe you and I can make Daddy a Grand Daddy some day soon, Robbie."

Robin growled in a menacing manner and attacked again. Ravager had him far too angry by now to fight properly though, and she quickly darted close to him and pulled his face close to hers, "What do you say, Robin? Wanna fuck me?"

Robin shoved at her and she tripped back. Holding fast to his tunic, she yanked him backwards off the rooftop with her.

The two of them fell, still punching at each other, and they started ripping through clothes lines strung between the two apartment buildings they were falling between. After several seconds, they caught in the tangle and glared at each other, suspended fifteen feet off the ground still.

Ravager suddenly grinned and twisted about, swinging her legs around. She straddled Robin where he was suspended facing up, and leaned her breasts down in his face. She looked down at him with a sultry smile and whispered, "Come on… I saw you kissing Raven earlier… I know you'll cheat on your little alien girl if you're given the chance… why not with me?"

"Let me think," he growled into her breasts, struggling to free his hands from the tangle of clothes like they were caught in, "maybe because you're evil, twisted, and, oh yeah, the daughter of my worst enemy!"

"Normally that'd be a good reason to sleep with me."

"I don't want anything to do with you, other than to put you in jail, Rose."

"Please, call me Ravager."

"Fine." Robin finally got one hand free, and quickly yanked out a bird-a-rang. He sliced one line as he said, "We can do this the hard way too."

The one line was all he needed to cut. The clothes line gave way and they fell the remaining fifteen feet to the ground. Both landed in crouches, and narrowed their eyes. Darting in quickly, the began to exchange blows once again. Ravager stayed a step ahead of him though, and Robin felt himself starting to tire. After a few more exchanged blows, she caught him in the chest with an open palm, then a kick to his midsection. Robin stumbled.

Ravager tried to press her attack, but he backed out of her reach momentarily and grabbed a trash can next to a back door into the building they'd just been on top of. He spun around and hurled it at her like it was a caber toss.

She slapped the can aside, but grabbed the lid off of it as he flew away. Using it as a shield she spun in at him and he ducked. The lid clanged off the wall, and she spun again, hurling it at him as he backed away.

Robin held up one arm and deflected the lid, only to have Ravager plow into him, knocking him back and slamming him into the opposite wall from where the trash had been. She punched him twice in the ribs before he got a hold of her shoulders and yanked her around, slamming her into the wall several times before throwing a punch at her face. She 'saw' the punch coming though apparently because she just jerked her head away and his fist slammed into the brick with a crack. He winced, knowing he'd just broken a knuckle.

Ravager danced out of his grip and kicked at his knees. Robin jumped her kick and lashed out with one of his one, catching her lightly in the chin.

"This ends now." He said, and summoned a surge of power, slamming her into the wall of the ally, then shoving her out into the street. Rose stumbled right out into the path of an on coming car. She turned towards it and simply ran up the hood, over the cab, and jumped into the air as it passed beneath her. As she landed, Robin tackled her into the middle of the road. Traffic was light this time of night, and no other vehicles were in sight. The Boy Wonder used his superior weight and strength advantage to straddle her and pin her arms down behind her back.

"Oh, I like it kinky like that, Robin…"

"Shut up. You're under arrest."

"No," Ravager replied, "I'm really not." And she suddenly jerked her head up, slamming him in the nose. Robin cried out and fell off of her, only to have her flip over and slam an elbow into his neck. It didn't crush his windpipe, but it hurt, and he rolled further to get away.

Ravager stood up and kicked him in the ribs as hard as she could, knocking him a little ways away. She staggered back and grinned, "Isn't this fun?"

"Yeah, it's a blast…" Robin hauled himself up and took up a stance, "We're not done yet, Ravager."

"I agree." She nodded, and they came together once again. Both were wearing out from injury and exhaustion, but Robin still had more endurance. He finally made it past her guard one last time and slugged her hard across the face. Ravager stumbled, but came back quickly with a back hand to his cheek. Robin stumbled away as well.

"I'd love to stay and beat each other to death all night, Robbie, but I have things to do yet." The young killer said though the blood that dripped from her mouth. She pulled a grenade from her belt, and yanked the pin.

"Five second fuse." She noted before she hurled it through the window of the apartment building next to the one they had started on. It went off, and the explosion tore the first level of the building apart.

"No!" Robin shouted, but it was too late. He staggered towards the building even as Ravager was running to the fire escape of the one next door. Turning to chase her, Robin paused. There were people in the blown up building that needed saving… but then, Ravager was a dangerous criminal. But the building might have become unsound, and he'd have to evacuate the whole thing. But Ravager was getting away!

With a growl, Robin yanked out his T-Comp. He flipped it open and hit a single button, "Cyborg! I need police, fire and EMT's to the 3000 block of Cormic Avenue! Tell them there's been an explosion."

_"What? Man, what's going on out there?"_ came the quick reply.

Robin looked up to the building next door and saw Ravager looking down at him while she put her swords away. She saluted with a saucy grin, then dashed away, out of his sight, "Ravager happened. I'm going to need a ride back to the Tower too, so you might as well come out here."

_"I'll be there in fifteen. Hold tight."_ And the line went dead.

Robin sighed, pushed the fight with Ravager from his mind and dashed into the now burning building to look for survivors of the blast.

* * *

Closing Notes: Now wasn't that fun? Review!

Next Time – The Second Floor Girls


	8. Recovery

Ties That Bind

A Teen Titans Fan Fiction by Jacob McDonald

Opening Notes: I've been working on this for a month. It's a monster. 13800 words. That's a lot. I was going to split it into two chapters, but couldn't fine a good point to do it. So it's kind of a two part thing.

Standard disclaimers apply. I don't own Teen Titans.

* * *

_**Chapter Six – Recovery**_

* * *

Raven materialized in the street and looked around with wide eyes. EMTs and Police swarmed the scene, and the glow from the apartment building engulfed in flames down the street threw a rosy glow across everything. Her eyes darted around frantically until she saw the T-Car.

Quickly hovering over, she landed next to the open driver's side door and peered down inside. Cyborg was interfacing with the onboard computer, frowning as screens flashed by. After a moment, Raven realized he was reviewing footage from traffic cameras in the area.

He spoke without looking at her, "Robin said she fled east on foot, but she was smart enough to avoid all the cameras. Who the hell is this girl?"

"Trained by Slade." Raven deadpanned, "What did you expect?"

"Nothing less than this I guess." He looked up at her, "Robin got everyone out of the building before it really started burning. He's busted up pretty bad though, so you might want to take a look at him."

"I will." She nodded, "Have you called Starfire?"

"She's not answering her com. Donna's out of town, BB's on his way, and I already called you and Speedy. Where is he, anyway?"

"On patrol. We figured he could cover the rest of the city for tonight."

"Sounds good. When BB gets here and Robin's back on his feet, we'll see what we're doing. He's over-"

"I know where he is." Raven smiled a little, "I can feel his anger from here."

"Yeah… he's pissed."

"At himself, or at Ravager?"

"A little of both." Cy shrugged, "What can you do, though? He's Robin, its how he is."

Raven just nodded and straightened up. She sighed as she walked across the scene to the ambulance she could feel the anger emanating from.

* * *

Tara flipped the light off in her room, then walked across the darkened area to her bed. She stumbled on a book lying on the floor and cursed softly as she crawled under the covers of the queen sized bed.

An eep! sounded from next to her, and she giggled. The girl lying there squirmed away a little and whined, "Cold toes! Cold toes!"

"Wimp. Does Gar never have cold toes?"

"No! And we hardly ever sleep in the same bed either, so get all those dirty thoughts out of your head!"

Tara grinned, "Well, I didn't have any until just now, but…"

"You're as demented as Becka." Hanna rolled her eyes in the darkness. The two girls lay there for a few minutes before she spoke again, "Do you think Robin is okay?" she asked in a small voice.

"I hope so." Tara's voice was soft as well. Beast Boy had been so shaken by the report he'd received from Cyborg that he'd run out right away, after a quick kiss for Hanna and an apology for needing to go to work to both of them. He'd looked scared, and more then a little upset.

Hanna continued, "I mean, Cassie will heal him just fine… she healed a hole in Jenny's hand once, and mended a bullet wound in Ginger's side, so I'm sure she can handle whatever happened to him…" she trailed off, and wasn't surprised when Tara's hand found hers under the covers.

"He's probably even tougher than we know, Hanna. We'll call Raven in the morning and find out what's up, but let's jut get some sleep for now, okay?"

"Yeah…" Hanna stared up at the ceiling, "It just never gets easier, you know? Trying to sleep when you know your friends are out there getting themselves killed to save people."

"Don't I know it." Tara nodded, "I can sing if you want me to."

"Are you any good?"

Tara snorted, "Hell no."

Hanna smiled lightly, "Then I will. Close you eyes, and think happy thoughts."

Tara did so, and as the two of them lay in bed trying to forget that their friends were in danger, Hanna sang them both softly to sleep.

* * *

Green eyes stared up into nothing, unblinking. Her red hair spilled about the pillows like pools of blood, and the sticky feeling between her legs reminded her of the exertions of the night with stunning clarity.

It had been wild, and passionate, and far beyond anything she'd ever experienced with Robin. While the Boy Wonder was an attentive lover, Greg was the kind of man that wouldn't stop until he was sure both of them were more than satisfied.

But then again, what she was doing here, doing right that instant, was wrong in so many ways. Tameranians mated for life, or at least until their mate died in battle. Human's had similar customs about 'dating' as they called the pre-marriage courtship rituals. She and Robin were 'exclusive' and were not allowed to simply share… what she had shared.

Star stroked his head, pushing some of the black hair from his eyes. He rested against her bare breasts, breathing evenly. His naked body, pressed against hers under the sheets of the large bed, seemed to fit perfectly.

"I… don't know how to feel right now." He said.

"Happy?"

"I guess. I just worry about you."

"Why is that?"

"What if…" he trailed off.

Starfire closed her eyes and shook her head, "No…" she opened them and looked up at the slowly rotating ceiling fan, running her hands through his ebony locks.

"Robin will never find out about us…"

* * *

Raven peered around the open door of the ambulance and looked inside with some trepidation. Robin was sitting inside, his legs dangling out and his head held in one hand. He wasn't even trying to stem the flow of blood from his nose, and it had created a rather sizable pool on the ground in front of him. She knew he would have refused medical aid until she arrived, simply to avoid having his identity revealed. As she stared at him, he spoke, "I let her get away."

Raven blinked, "You saved an enter building full of people, Robin. You made the right call."

"I should have just put a 'rang in her neck and gone back for her before she bled to death."

"That's rather brutal don't you think?"

"It's what Batman would have done."

"You're not Batman."

"No… no, I'm not."

Raven put on her miffed face, "That's still no reason to let yourself bleed to death from a broken nose. Sit up." And she bustled around the door, her cloak fluttering behind her.

Robin sat up with a sigh and let her healing touch start on his face. He had his eyes closed as she worked for a few moments, and they were silent as the bleeding slowed. After a time, he muttered, "Thank you."

Raven didn't respond, but moved on once the bleeding had stopped. Her next concern was the puncture wounds in his chest and gut, not too deep, but still bleeding enough to be of concern. He coughed once, then reached over and picked up an oxygen mask and placed in over his face. Shaking his head, he muttered, "Re-breather only does so much."

Again, Raven didn't respond, but picked up his hand, and inspected the swelling before going about healing the broken bones in his knuckles. He winced as she held it a bit too tightly.

"Ease up, huh?"

"Robin, we have to talk about earlier."

He blinked up at her, then looked away, "No, we don't."

"We should. Don't you have anything to say about it?"

He looked up at her with the expressionless white depths of his eye mask, and stated firmly, "It was a mistake."

Raven winced a little, and allowed some self pity to slip though her emotional barriers. The ambulance shuddered once, then was still.

Robin didn't change his serious expression, and she could sense how much he believed what he was saying, "It was a mistake, and it'll never happen again. Regardless of what we might have been feeling in that moment, it was just our minds tricking us. You're devoted to Roy, and from now on, I'm devoted to Kori. I won't cheat again."

Raven nodded slowly, then a small smile quirked at her lips, "Rose hit on you, didn't she?"

Robin growled up at her, "I'm sure she was just trying to distract me from the fight."

"Right…" Raven chuckled, but inside, she was slightly conflicted. Part of her was pouting because when it came right down to it, Robin had been willing to cheat on Starfire with Jenny, but not with her. It hurt a little to know that she wasn't as appealing to him as her adopted sister was.

As she moved on to repair his bruised ribs, Robin pulled out his T-Comp and flipped it open, "Starfire's not on the network tonight."

"Maybe the battery in her com died again. It wouldn't be the first time she's forgotten to charge something because she forgets that we don't put micro fusion reactors in everything on this planet."

"Maybe." He pushed a button, and a spoke clearly, "Robin to Speedy. Where are you, Copper Top?"

The reply came with an amused note in it, _"Standing on top of the Struas building, Boy Punching Bag." _

"Ha." Robin didn't sound amused by the jibe, "What are you up to?"

_"Just a little patrol. Everything seems quite outside of the East End."_

"Do me a favor? Find Starfire. She's not answering her com."

_"Worried she's had a run in too?"_

"A little. It wouldn't be outside of Slade's MO to attack me with Ravager and go after her himself. He's done more extreme things to hurt me before."

Speedy nodded over the video link, _"Sure thing, man. Say, is that a bruise under your eye?"_

"Shut up, Speedy."

_"What, did you fall off a building?"_ Speedy grinned, _"I mean, aren't Robin's-"_

"Please don't tell me you're going to try and make fun of _my_ name…" Robin rolled his eyes.

Speedy didn't miss a beat, _"Aren't Robin's supposed to be able to fly?"_

"Oh, har har." Robin sneered, "En-jun Boy make joke. Heap funny. Learn from Green Arrow?"

Speedy had the good grace to laugh off his friend making fun of his upbringing, _"I'll bring your girl home tonight, Robbie. See you then."_

"Yeah. Latter." And the Boy Wonder flipped his T-Comp shut.

Raven shook her head, "You boys are impossible."

Robin laughed a little as she began to heal the cut on his arm.

* * *

By the time Beast Boy arrived on the scene most of the fire was out, Cyborg was in a foul mood from having gotten nowhere in his search, Raven was very quiet from her 'talk' with Robin, and Robin was still seething with anger. He called his team around him into a huddle and folded his arms across the chest of his torn and bloodied uniform, "Okay, Titans. Options."

"We could spend all night scouring the East End looking for Ravager," Cyborg said, "but she's way too good for that. Girl's long gone."

BB shrugged, "I'm just getting into this one, so I don't know too much. I can say that from all the research I did on Rose that she's well trained enough to know how to get away from us, and smart enough to stay away until she's healed enough to fight again." He scowled, "Just like her dad."

Raven spoke in a quiet voice far too reminiscent of her early days with the team for anyone's comfort, "She's gone to ground for now, Robin. Let's just head back home and sleep it off."

Robin lowered his head in thought. They were right, he knew. They weren't going to catch Ravager until she showed herself again, and any forensic evidence he may have been able to gather from the fight had been driven over by so many emergency vehicles that it would be useless. He'd already done a sweep of the rooftop where they had fought, and hadn't come up with much. The only loose end was Starfire.

"Let's pack it in then." He finally said, and flipped open his T-Comp. Making the call, he spoke as he trooped with his team over to the T-Car, "Speedy. Tell me you have something."

_"Not yet."_ The young archer's voice was strained, and Robin noted the connection was voice only, _"I'm kind of- oof! You _fucker_."_ There was the sound of fist meeting face, and Robin winced, _"I'm busy. I'll call you back later."_

"Need any help?" Robin was exhausted, but if his friend needed him…

_"Please. There's only four of 'em."_ Another thwack! made Robin smile.

"Okay. Talk to you later." And the line went dead.

Raven looked at him with worried eyes, "Do you think-"

"He'll be fine. We both need sleep, Raven. BB… why don't you sweep the rest of the city by air just once before you come in."

"Sure." Beast Boy nodded, and took wing a moment later as a hawk. As the rest of the Titans piled into the T-Car, they all let out a collective sigh.

"So," Cy grinned as he started his car, "Who wants to stop for doughnuts before we head back to the Tower?"

* * *

Speedy sighed as he landed on top of an office building way uptown. It was outside of Starfire's patrol area, but he needed some time to recover from the fight he'd just punched his way through. The four kids he'd just beaten up were rich brats with nothing better to do than attack bums begging for change downtown. They'd all think twice before doing it again.

As he settled on the building's edge and looked out across the city, he pondered his next move in the Slade case. He was sure Deathstroke was behind the gang war somehow, but couldn't quite wrap his brain around how or why. His gut was telling him one thing, and the evidence was telling him another. Things weren't adding up.

As he thought he let his eyes trail over to the building across the street. It was a high rise apartment complex, and the patio door of the penthouse had just opened. He grinned when he saw it was a tall, leggy redhead wearing a sheet about her frame that was stepping out into the cool night air. He pulled his binoculars out to get a better look at her as she leaned on the railing of the patio and looked down at the street below.

As he inspected her body from her toes to her face, then took in her features and expression, his smile slipped away. He pulled the zoom on his binoculars back a little ways as he saw a hand wrap around her waist and pull her away from the railing. The woman and the man that had come up behind her kissed passionately, then she said something and he frowned. Shaking her head, the woman walked back towards the penthouse, and the man followed.

Speedy's jaw dropped as he saw the man snag the sheet from around the woman as they walked through the door, revealing her naked back and behind. She looked over her shoulder with a playful grin and shut the door as the lights came on inside. The silhouettes that played against the curtains as the two came together again told Speedy they were doing something he knew for a fact shouldn't be happening.

"No… fucking… way…" he breathed. As he backed away from the building ledge, his knees buckled and he hit the rooftop. "This is… bad. Really bad."

* * *

Jenny walked into her apartment from the door that attached the workout area, having come in through there from the garage that she parked the Jag in. She tossed her duffle of clothes and overnight supplies on the bed, then carried her second duffle to the bathroom, where she got up on top of the tank of the toilet. She pushed a tile from the drop ceiling up and pushed the bag of over a million dollars up into a hiding nook she'd installed soon after she'd bought the place with some money Robin had 'loaned' her.

While she was up there, she pulled out one of the many other objects she had stashed. While she may have been 'straight' now, she still had a bit of a problem with stealing things, especially from Titan's Tower. If Robin noticed something was missing, she'd usually give it back, but if he noticed that one of the spare T-Comps was missing he hadn't let on. She flipped open the device and waited for it to connect to the network. She stepped down from the toilet and went about brushing her teeth as the screen came up.

She scanned through several menus and screens before arching an eyebrow. Only Speedy was still out in the city. One other signal came up, identified as 'Terra' but Jen knew that had to be a malfunction or a glitch of some kind. Still, it was only a little past four. Normally Robin would be out until six at least.

"Why is everyone back at the Tower already?" she wondered aloud, then went back to brushing her teeth. After she was done, she walked over to her clothes and selected some warm pajamas. Laying them out on the bed, she started to pull her shirt over her head, then paused. Shaking her head, she lowered her shirt, "Who am I kidding? I'm wired."

The blonde and pink haired young woman looked at the door to her apartment, and sighed, "Guess I can always go for a walk."

* * *

Starfire was frowning as she flew over the rooftops of Jump City. Her com told her it was just past three in the morning, so she was fairly sure that no one at the Tower would be awake when she returned home. As she flew, she thought about the offer Greg had made her before she left.

He'd told her that they could go away, to a new city, and start a new life together. He would find an honest job, since he was independently wealthy after all his theft, and she could work as an independent Titan. He would still have the Red-X suit around in case she needed his help, and they could be happy and together in a simple, un-complicated world.

She shook her head and felt tears fly from her face. As nice as a life where she didn't have to constantly worry about her boyfriend yelling at her or getting killed while he ran about the city in a rage trying to find leads on a super villain sounded, she would never be able to do it. She was in love with Robin, and despite the fact that she'd just betrayed him by sleeping with Greg, she thought they still had a good chance of being happy once they worked past their current difficulties.

It was at that point she realized she was loosing altitude. The emotion of joy and happiness she needed to summon the power of flight was leaving her. She tried to focus on the first time Robin had kissed her, but that thought broke her heart all over again. The power left her entirely, and she fell from the sky.

Fortunately, her alien endurance was a natural trait she didn't need to be happy to make work. Her fifty foot drop ended as she plowed into the street and rag-dolled for several yards before hitting a curb and bouncing up and onto the sand of the central beach area on the coast. She lay in the sand for a moment, breathing in ragged gasps and sobbing. With a sharp scream of rage, she pounded the ground with a glowing fist, blowing sand several yards in all directions.

"Oh… X'hal damn it all! Why am I such a fool?" she cried.

"Pfft." Came the nearby reply.

Star quickly rolled over and got to her feet, looking around. Her eyes rested on the sand covered form of Jenny Wrangler. The young woman spit a little more dirt from her mouth and shook her head, spraying sand from her braids. She brushed off her face and blinked open her eyes, "Heya, Kori." She muttered.

"Oh! Friend Jennifer! I am sorry! I did not see you, or I would not have used any power in my… tantrum."

"Don't sweat it." Jenny's eyes flared pink and energy burst around her, blowing the sand away from her body. Her power faded and she smiled lightly at Star, "So… why the cursing and crying?"

"Oh… I…" Starfire looked away, "I have done something very foolish."

"Uh oh… you didn't kill anyone did you?" Jenny looked worried.

"No!" Star looked back at her with a gasp, "Why would you think that?"

"Well… uh…" Jenny blinked, "It's what I was usually upset about when I thought I'd done something stupid."

"Oh…" Star blinked back and cocked her head to the side, her eyes taking on an expression of morbid curiosity, "How many people have you… killed?"

Jenny shrugged, "A few."

"You do not know an exact number?"

"I…" Jenny looked away this time, "Seven. I've murdered seven people. Only one conviction and even that was downgraded to manslaughter when I gave up the HIVE location."

Star's eyes softened, "I am… sorry I made you speak of it. Though your honesty is surprising."

"Well… tit for tat, you know? I was just buttering you up." Jen looked her friend in the eye, "What was it you did?"

"I…" Star choked, "I have, 'cheated' on Richard."

Jenny paled, "What?"

"I slept with another man." Starfire started to cry again, "Four times. Tonight."

"Wow, four times huh?" Jenny looked mildly interested for a second, then shook her head, "Uh, I mean… bad Starfire?" she shrugged, "Not like I've never cheated before I guess…"

"You have also?"

"Kori," Jenny winced as she spoke, "I've… been the other woman before. I was the one a guy was cheating with."

"Oh… did you seduce the man?"

"No, it was a mutual consent kind of thing… thought I did make the first move." She walked over and slung an arm around Starfire's shoulders, "Why did you drop out of the sky like that?"

"I need happy emotions and thoughts of joy in order to fly. I am… not feeling any of those right now."

"So you can't fly?"

"No… I cannot." Star looked shamed.

"Don't worry." Jenny hugged her closer and turned her towards the Tower, "I'll walk home with you. Might as well just crash at the Tower tonight anyway."

"That is very kind of you." Star nodded as she leaned her head down and rested it against the braids of her shorter friend, "Why are you out so late anyway?"

"Couldn't sleep. I ran to L.A. yesterday to see an old friend. Just had to get away for a while, and when I got back in, I was wired."

"I see. I am glad you were here for me."

"Anytime, Kori. Anytime."

* * *

When the two girls reached the Tower, Jenny went right up to the guest rooms, but Starfire waved her on with a smile and walked to the kitchen to get a drink of water. After retrieving her refreshment and putting the glass away when she had downed the water from it, the alien girl walked towards the elevator that would lead her to the upper residential levels. She stopped suddenly when she caught sight of the lift.

Speedy stood in the elevator, his uniform still in place but his eye mask removed. He glared at her with an angry look, and she took an involuntary step back.

"Friend Roy… why do you give me such a look of-" He cut her off with two sharp words that stopped her heart.

"I know."

As she stared with wide eyes full of fear, the doors to the elevator shut and he disappeared from her view.

Starfire fell to her knees and buried her face in her hands. She stayed there for almost a half hour, sobbing quietly.

* * *

Jenny yawned hugely as she walked down the hall to one of the guest rooms. As she stepped past the doors to the public bathroom, they swooshed open and Robin stepped out, almost running right into her. They both jumped a little, but calmed down quickly.

"Hey," he said, widening his maskless eyes at her, "What are you doing here so… early?"

"Yeah, it's about 4:00 AM." She grinned, "I… ran into Star while I was out taking a walk. I couldn't sleep… you know how that goes."

"Yeah… we've been trying to contact her all night, where was she?"

"I found her on the beach. She seemed pretty down about something and was just sitting and thinking when I showed up."

"I don't suppose she mentioned why her com was off all night?" he looked annoyed.

"Uh, no. But she's really… upset right now. Go easy on her."

Robin's eyes softened, "I will." He fidgeted, "Um, Jenny?"

"Yeah?" she arched an eyebrow.

"Um…" he looked about, then grabbed her arm and dragged her down the hall. He looked around once more before opening the doors to one of the guest rooms and leading her inside. Once they were in, he turned around and engaged the electronic lock. Turning back to her, he gave her a pensive stare, "Look… about you and me…"

"Don't." she held up a hand, "I know you and Kori are together. And you two really need each other right now, I think. So… let's just put it behind us, okay?"

"I don't think we can… I don't think _I_ can just do that."

"Excuse me?" Jenny blinked, "The girl you've been cheating with just gave you a total out, and you want to make things complicated?"

"Look, I know we always said it was just sex, but we both know we were just lying to ourselves. We connect on a different level, Jenny. Maybe it's not love, but it's _something_."

"Yeah, it's called being friends." Jen looked away from him, "Dick, we can't keep seeing each other… like we have been."

"I know that… I want to break it off too, but we have to realize that we're never going to just be friends again. It doesn't work that way."

"I know that… just… let me ignore it for a few weeks."

"Fine." Robin turned away, "Just don't ignore me… I don't know if I could take that."

"I wont." She smiled at him in a miserable way, "Can I have one last kiss?"

"Sure." He leaned in and pecked her lightly on the lips, "Any more than that and we'd be in that bed in a heartbeat."

"Don't I know it!" she laughed finally, and looked at him closer, "Hey, who the hell punched you in the face?"

"Yeah, I noticed Raven didn't heal all the bruising, just the broken bones and cuts." He rubbed at the bruise marring his left cheek ruefully, "She's been kind of a bitch to me lately."

"Can't blame her. You're insufferable. So who hit you?"

"Oh. I had a dust up with Ravager earlier-"

"Ravager?!?" Jenny gasped, "That freak that was after Rose? What the hell is he doing in Jump?"

Robin blinked, then a look of understanding dawned on him, "Oh, right. You're out of the loop… Jenny, Rose _is_ Ravager. She's taken the name and she's trying to do something bad out on the East End." Her eyes widened as he gave her a serious look, "She's working for Slade now."

"No way… she can't be a bad guy… she was so nice, and-"

"She saved Ami a few nights ago. Killed four men doing it, but she still saved someone." He shook his head, "She might not be all gone, but she'll still have to pay for her crimes."

"Oh… man… what was Ami doing?"

"Going to see you. Where have you been, anyway?"

"L.A. I went to look up an old friend." She looked away, "I… I need some sleep."

"We both do. We can talk more in the morning… I want to give you some more defensive equipment if you're going to be staying in the East End."

"Sure." Jenny nodded, "Goodnight, Dick."

"Goodnight." He nodded, then unlocked the door and stepped out. As soon as it shut behind him, Jenny walked over to the bed and flopped down. She muttered into the pillows,

"Damn it all…"

* * *

Raven woke with a start and looked about her darkened room, willing the haze of sleep to fade so she could identify the noise that brought her out of her dreams. She saw a dark form standing in the darkness, stripping off a shirt.

"Roy?" she whispered.

"Hey." He replied in a low voice as he walked over and crawled into the bed next to her, "Didn't mean to wake you."

"It's okay… did you find Starfire?"

"Yeah… yeah, I found her."

"Where was she?"

He paused for a moment, then shook his head, "She was uptown. Busy."

"With what?"

"Her job. Fighting crime. It's what we do, isn't it?"

Raven narrowed her eyes, "Why are you lying to me?"

He turned his face to her as he lay back in the pillows and she saw his bright blue eyes glaring through the darkness at her, "Why have you been lying to me for the past two months about Dick?"

Raven paused, then sank down into the pillows as well, "I'm sorry. Whatever it is you're keeping from me, I'm sure you have a good reason for it."

"I do. I'm glad you trust me."

"As you trust me." Raven put an arm across his chest, "Let's get some sleep."

"Yeah." Speedy nodded once and grasped her hand. He listened as her breathing grew even, and she drifted off to sleep once again.

His eyes remained open and staring up at the ceiling for several hours before sleep claimed him as well.

* * *

6:00 AM came to Jump City, and the sun started to peak over the horizon. Life had stirred many hours before as those employed in jobs that woke them in the early morning hours had risen for another Saturday of toil.

In a low rent apartment west of downtown, two blonde girls lay in a queen sized bed, their legs intertwined. One had a hand draped over her swollen pregnant belly, and the other drooled on her pillow with a few strands of golden hair dangling in her mouth.

In an estate just outside of the city limits, a young woman with highlighted brown hair was sitting up in bed and yawning, wondering at what her future would hold with an old boyfriend who she wouldn't see again for four days.

In an upscale apartment just north of the JCU campus, a petit red haired girl was slipping out of the bedroom of her beautiful dark haired lover, getting ready to go for a jog. She glanced over her shoulder once and smiled at the bed she'd slept in the night before.

Somewhere underground, in a dark room with no windows, a young woman with white hair tossed in a fitful sleep, moaning when she rolled on her bruised ribs from a fight the night before with a certain Boy Wonder. The dark form of her father glared at her from the doorway, contemplating the new developments.

And in the middle of the bay, in a Tower shaped like a giant 'T' the protectors of peace for the city were beginning to stir. They were beginning their day much like any other, as upstanding, virtuous young men and woman who always did what was right, and always fought for truth and justice.

Well, mostly, anyway.

"Victor Stone, I swear to Zeus that if you try to dump any more bacon into that frying pan, I'll personally dismantle your hands." Donna Troy scowled at the half-robotic man from where she was mixing batter a short distance away in the kitchen.

Cyborg looked over at her with a hurt expression, "Aw, come on, girl! Meat is like, the staple of every good breakfast!"

"I already allowed you to make sausage, bacon _and_ ham, Cy. Don't make me come over there…"

"Man…" Cy grumbled as he put the bacon back in the freezer, "You're no fun."

"I'm a Breakfast Nazi." Troia grinned, "Now start the coffee before Dick gets down here. He'll need it after the night he had."

"Sure thing." Cy began to prep the coffee maker even as the doors slid open and a sleepy looking Beast Boy walked in. He immediately recoiled at the smell he encountered and swore loudly, "Damnit! Cy, why do you have to cook half a pig every morning?"

"I have a tofu supreme omelet for you right here, Gar." Troia pulled a plate from the microwave and placed it on the counter, "You might as well get started on it before anyone else tries to steal it away from you."

"Oh, har har." The green skinned changeling dead paned as he pulled a chair up to the counter and grabbed a fork. Pulling the plate towards himself, he took a healthy bite, "So what's up?"

"My Checkmate contact gave me some solid info on Slade last night. We'll go through it after breakfast." Troia walked to the stove and began pouring batter for pancakes. "After Robin's dust up with Rose last night, I think it's important that we compile what data we can to try and figure out what the hell Deathstroke is up to."

Beast Boy nodded, "Cy and I can go through all the info. I think Raven and Jenny will be stealing you away from the Tower today."

Troia arched an eyebrow, "Really?"

"Yeah. Girls day or something. Now that Hanna and all the other girls are in town, they want to have a huge get together thing."

"Sounds like fun, but we do have work to do…" she frowned over at Cy.

"We can handle it." He waved her off, "And after making breakfast for everyone, you deserve a day off."

The doors to the elevator opened again, and Jenny stepped into the main room, wearing jeans and a t-shirt that were a little too big for her. A belt held the pants up. Toria's eye twitched, "Um… are those my clothes, Jennifer?"

Jenny looked down at herself, then back up with a grin, "I would have raided Raven's room, but she and Roy sounded like they didn't want to be disturbed."

"Oh wow…" Cy covered the ear on the human side of his head, "Too much info, way too early…"

"You're just jealous, you walking soda machine." Jenny grinned as she walked into the kitchen, pulled him down by one shoulder, and smooched his cheek, "Good morning, handsome."

"Hey!" BB offered a cheek, "Do I get a kiss too?"

Jenny _looked_ at him.

"Hehe… guess not…"

As the pink and blonde haired girl went about gathering the supplies to make tea, Troia floated past Cy and whispered in his ear, "Handsome, huh?"

He blushed a little deeper and hit the start button on the coffee maker.

* * *

By nine every Titan was assembled in the main room, eating the breakfast that Troia and Cyborg had made. Robin leaned back on the couch, propping his plate on one knee while he looked around with a light smile. It was a rare lately to have the Tower's main living area so full of people, and it felt good to know they were all his friends.

With all five original Titans in the room, plus Speedy and Troia, plus the one unofficial Titan, Jenny, it made for an eight person shouting match. Everyone was trying to be heard in their individual conversations with each other, so things were getting louder by the second. Raven glanced across the room at Jenny and arched an eyebrow.

The pink and blonde haired girl looked back, laughing at one of Beast Boy's jokes. She too arched an eyebrow, "What's up, Cassie?"

Raven smiled lightly at the use of her 'real' name, "Do you have something you want to tell us, Jen?"

Jenny looked frightened for just a second, then a knowing look dawned on her face, "Oh… that. Yeah, um…" she stood up and walked to the middle of the room, where she jumped up on the coffee table. Everyone grew quiet and looked over at her, "As everyone knows, I've been running around the East End beating the crap out of gang bangers and small time thugs for a while now…" she stopped and cleared her throat, "Um… I'd like to keep doing it, if no one minds, but I'd like to do it in a bit more of an official manner…" she took a deep breath and looked directly at the team leader, "Robin, I've reconsidered. I'd like to stay living where I am and protecting the East End, but I'd like the com to go along with the job." She hopped down from the table and stood in front of him, "I'm ready. I'd like to be a Titan."

Robin smiled up at her, then set his food aside and stood up as well. He reached a hand out and she shook it. Everyone cheered as he nodded, "Welcome to the team, Jinx."

* * *

A ringing sound yanked Tara out of slumber and back into the land of the waking. She rolled over, briefly smothering Hanna and causing the other girl to wake up as well. Grabbing the offending cell phone off the night stand on that side of the bed, Tara flipped it open and brought it to her ear, "Hello?" she asked in a sleepy voice.

_"Uh… hi! Who's this?"_ came the reply.

"Tara… who's this?"

_"Um… my name's Becka… why are you answering Hanna's phone?" _

Tara's eyes popped open and she quickly sat up, "Crap! I thought this was _my_ phone!"

_"Uh, no. Is Hanna there? I'm surprised she's up this early on a Saturday."_

"No, no… she's still in bed right here."

_"Right here?"_

"Yeah, at my apartment in my room… you know what? This is staring to sound really bad. We didn't do anything. I mean, we're not lesbians or something, right? And she's got a boyfriend besides, and we're wearing jammies, and-"

"Tara?" Hanna cut in, "Let me talk to Becka."

"How'd you know it was her?" Tara handed over the phone.

"Because no one else would call me before noon on a weekend and not have a _deathwish_." Hanna replied in a growl as she spoke into the phone.

_"Good morning to you too."_ Becka replied brightly, _"Now who's bed are you in?"_

"Tara. She's a new friend that Cassie and Gar introduce me to."

_"And you're already in bed with her?"_

"It was late, there was only one bed, and it was big enough for both of us. You and I shared a twin sized bed back in the dorms more than once if I recall correctly."

"Kinky." Tara yawned as she got up, "I'm taking a shower."

"Kay." Hanna waved with a smile and the other blonde staggered down the hallway. Speaking into her phone again, she asked, "Now what do you want?"

_"Girls day, remember? We're going to the beach." _

"Not all of us have Goddess-like figures to flaunt, Becka."

_"True. But you do have that cute pregnancy suit we picked out for you!" _

"I'm not getting out of this, am I?"

_"Hell no! Tell your new friend Tara she can come too! I've already got Jan and Ami, and I'm calling Ginger and Maggie next, then Jenny, then the Tower. We'll have a huge gaggle of hot chicks down on South Beach in no time!"_

"Holy shit, Becka, are you trying to attract every asshole and womanizer in the tri-county area? That's just asking for trouble."

_"Except for the fact that we'll have an Amazon Warrior, an alien princess of a warrior race, and ass kicking metahuman terrorist Witch, and the daughter of Satan to protect us. I'd say trouble will stay the fuck away." _

Hanna just laughed, "Okay! Fine! We'll get ready and meet everyone there at… noon?"

_"Sounds awesome!" _Becka giggled_, "This is going to be so cool…"_

* * *

Ginger Hamilton sat at the bistro table on her penthouse's large patio, sipping the finest Colombian imported coffee in the world, and poking at her specifically dictated diet breakfast with a real silver fork. She wore a silk nightgown, and nothing else as she stared with a bored expression out over the cityscape in front of her.

Across from her, dressed in designer jeans and a black t-shirt with the words, _"Don't #& with the P.A.!"_ printed across the chest, was Maggie Delmont. She pushed her rimless glasses up her nose and glared at her boss, "Ginger? Are you paying attention?"

"No." Ginger didn't look away from the city.

"Well, start. This is important stuff."

"Says who?"

"You!" Maggie growled, "You're the one that wanted to be a famous model/actress, so at least listen to your personal assistant when she tires to keep you on schedule, okay?" she waved a note pad at the taller girl.

"Fine…" Ginger sighed and put down her coffee, "What have you got?"

"First order of business is to wear some damn clothes when I'm around." Maggie nodded pointedly at Ginger's more than half exposed breasts, "That's just rude, girl."

"Whatever. You're just afraid you'll fall even more in love with me."

"I have a boyfriend, thank you. One who doesn't want me because I'm famous."

"That's because you're _not_ famous." Ginger rolled her eyes.

"And I'd like to keep it that way, thank you."

"I'm sure you won't have any problems with that."

Maggie grinned, "Now we're bickering like we should be! Alright, you have a 12:30 lunch with your Mom at that swanky French place where they don't have anything on the menu that you like, and that you need me to read for you anyway since you don't speak French."

"Gag." Was Ginger's only reply.

"Next up is a 2:00pm walk with Georgio Bouticelli to scout the mansion location for the lingerie shoot-"

"If he asks me to strip and pose for him while we're doing it this time, I'm taking his front teeth out with a _hammer_."

"You'd chip a nail." Maggie replied, "Let me do it."

"Fine." Ginger grinned.

"What's after that?" Maggie flipped a page, "Oh, yeah." She frowned, "You said you'd meet that actor dude… what's his name?"

"Trent Vector. And don't curl your nose like that, he may be an empty headed player, but at least he's hot, and it'll kick up tons of rumors. Free publicity never hurts anyone in this business."

"Ginger, he _groped_ you at the club a few nights ago. That's not right."

"It's not the first time, and it wont be the last." Ginger looked away, "This job is kind of like being a really visible hooker, Maggie. You know that."

"Doesn't mean I have to like seeing my friend go through it."

"Aw. How sweet." Ginger fake gagged and grinned at her PA.

Maggie shook her head and smile back, "Anyway, you have to meet him at 6:00 for dinner and-" she was cut off as her Blackberry began to ring. She quickly yanked it out and hit the receive button, "Delmont here. Miss Hamilton is busy just at the moment, but I can handle any scheduling or-" she paused and smiled as she listened for a moment, "Oh, hey Becka. Yeah, no big deal. So, what's up?"

Ginger arched an eyebrow as the mousy haired girl across from her nodded a few times then shook her head, "No, sorry… we're really booked today. Yeah, famous starlet and all… hmm… I dunno. Let me check my date book…" she flipped a few pages in her scheduling book and frowned, "Looks like we can fit in a few hours of down time in two weeks." She frowned, "No, I'm not kidding. Why are you laughing so hard?"

Ginger had had enough, "Gimme that." She snapped and grabbed the phone from Maggie. Putting it to her ear she said, "Hello? Becka Pullman?" she grinned, "Hey girl! What's up?" she too listened for a few moment, then grinned, "No way. Not missing it." She turned to Maggie, "Cancel everything. I'm taking the day off."

Maggie's mouth dropped open, "What? How am I supposed to do that?"

"Tell them I'm feeling sick or something." She shoved her plate away from herself, "Tell them this stupid diet is killing me and that I'm taking a day to eat real food."

Maggie shook her head, but smiled anyway, "I take it we'll need to swing by my place to get some beach wear then…" she sighed and stood up, "I'll need my phone back to make the calls."

Ginger grinned hugely, "Awesome! Becka, we'll meet you girls there at noon!"

* * *

Raven and Troia sat in the briefing room, going through the files the Amazonian woman had retrieved from her Checkmate contact the night before, each of them slightly distracted. After several minutes of sorting for easy chronological reading, Raven finally sighed and put down the file she was reading.

"Donna, something is bothering you. Spit it out."

"What?" the tall woman looked over at her team mate and frowned, "How do you know… oh. Empathy."

"Right in one."

"Is it very distracting?"

"You have no idea."

Troia smiled weakly, "Sorry. It's Robert."

"Your son."

"Yes. I stopped by and saw him and his father when I was in Gateway City. He seems well, but I feel… that I'm missing so much of his life."

"You are." Raven arched an eyebrow, "You gave him up to his father and removed yourself from his life. You agreed it was for the best."

"So that he wouldn't be killed by my enemies!"

"Which was a wise choice."

"I'm not so sure. Terry is wonderful, but Robert is missing a mother from his life… he grows more and more into a man every day, and is missing the touch of a woman."

"Well, he _is_ a little boy." Raven smiled lightly, "At that age most boys are little monsters."

"Raven, he is the son of an Amazonian Princess." Donna leveled a glare at the other girl, "He should be raised always to respect woman and-"

"Donna, I'm sure he'll be fine. You've told me in the past that you respect Terry's ability to raise your child in a manner you see as fit."

"I may have made a mistake." Troia picked up another file and stared at it blankly.

Raven looked away, fingering a file on the desk as well, "We all make mistakes. Sometimes big ones."

"Not this big. This is the rearing of my child, Raven."

"I know, and it's nothing to be ashamed of that you're concerned. Maybe you should give Terry a few more months to straighten Robert out." Raven fidgeted and pushed at her lowered hood, feeling a hotness on her neck all of a sudden.

"Maybe. That'd be a good idea I guess. It's probably just a faze he's going through, and-"

"I kissed Robin." Raven suddenly blurted out.

Troia stopped talking and stared at her with an open mouth. After a moment, she recovered enough to stutter out, "What?"

"I kissed Dick. I kissed him, and it was wonderful, and it made me feel things I shouldn't be feeling about anyone other than Roy, and I _liked_ it."

Troia sat back and stared at her for a moment, then shook her head, "What… how did this happen?"

"Last night… it was… we were beating the crap out of some gang bangers on the East End, and we talked afterwards, and we made up after _weeks_ of fighting, and it just… happened." Raven's voice had grown very small.

Donna eyed her critically for a moment, then said in a stern, strong voice, "I made out with Roy the other night when we were undercover."

Raven's eyes grew wide, her mouth dropped open and she felt her blood begin to boil, "What?"

"You heard me!"

"Donna! What the fuck? What… why would you tell me that?"

"He's a great kisser. Turned me right the fuck on."

"Raven's eyes began to glow faintly red, "You bitch… I'm gonna'-"

"You're going to shut up and listen." Donna was fierce, "How'd that make you feel? I know you can tell I'm not lying about it. I did what I did to keep us from being spotted, and it almost made me gag afterwards, honestly. He is hot, but he's my little brother. It was nasty."

Raven calmed down considerably, and leveled a glare at the taller girl, "Why are you telling me this?"

"If I was you, and you were Kori, would this be any different?"

Raven paused, "No… I guess you're right."

"No, you're wrong. This would be different, because you weren't protecting Dick's life by kissing him. You did it for yourself." Troia stood up and loomed over Raven, "And Starfire would rip you apart for it."

Raven lowered her head, "I'm sorry."

"I'm not the one you should apologize to."

"No… you're right. Kori, and then Roy…"

"And Dick. It's not fair to put him in the situation you did."

"He kissed me too."

"Not the point."

"Again, you're right."

Troia nodded, "I know it's hard, Raven. Just… think about Roy, okay?"

Raven lifted her head and was about to say something more when her com beeped. She pulled it out reflexively and flipped it open, "Raven here."

_"Cassie!"_ it was Becka, _"You, Donna, Kori and Jenny! South Beach! Bikinis! One hour!" _

"Um…" Raven arched an eyebrow over at Troia. She shrugged.

"I'm game."

Raven shrugged as well, "Okay. We'll be there."

_"Sweet! See ya!"_ and the line went dead.

"Girls day it is then…" Troia grinned. "Emotional confessions later."

* * *

Jinx fidgeted, "I, uh… don't want to wear a bikini." She stood in the middle of Raven's room about a half hour after the dark haired girl had gotten the call from Becka. Raven poked her head out of the closet she was in, revealing bare shoulders and an arched eyebrow.

"Why not? Please don't tell me you have body issues. Jenny, you're fucking hot."

"No… I mean…" she was cut off as the door opened and Starfire walked in, grinning at something Troia was saying, as the tall girl followed closely behind. Both of them were wearing bikini tops with beach wraps around their waists, and bags slung over their shoulders. They stopped laughing for a moment, and Star called out.

"Raven! We are ready! Have you not changed yet?"

Raven ducked back into the closet, grumbling, "Yeah, yeah… hold on."

After a few seconds, she stepped back out, tying a strap around her neck of the black bikini top she was wearing. The bottom was a thong style that barely covered her ass, and rode high on her hips, accenting her pale legs. "Thank Azar I don't sun burn…"

Starfire's suit was bright pink, and left large amounts of her breasts revealed. The bottom was much like Raven's but since Star had a bit _more_ ass to not cover, it looked somewhat _hotter_ on her. Troia's top covered her breasts completely, and her bottom was tight and covered most of her behind as well. It was a Speedo surfer style, and the other three girls knew the Amazon warrior planned on catching a few waves with Ami while they were out.

All three bathing suit clad women looked over at Jinx, who glared back. "I'm not wearing a two piece."

Raven rolled her eyes, "Why not? Does it have something to do with your smaller breast size? You never can seem to leave that alone…"

"No, I just… I…" with a sigh, Jinx reached up and stripped off her shirt. She quickly kicked off her pants as well and stood before her friends in just her underwear. They all frowned, and looked at the floor.

Jinx sighed again and ran a finger down the scar along her chest as she looked over in Raven's mirror. The gun shot wounds stood out in high contrast against her pale skin, and she shuddered once, "I need a one piece suit. My scars are who I am… but I don't need to freak out every beach bum in Jump City by showing off how many bullets I can take and live to tell the tale."

"Do not make light of the situation…" Starfire looked away, "You never deserved to suffer like you have."

Jinx nodded and picked up her discarded clothes, "Let's just… hit a shop at the beach then. I'll pick something up there."

"Alright." Raven walked to her vanity and picked up her purse. Reaching inside, she pulled out a debit card and showed them the name on it with a grin, "Roy's paying."

* * *

Five young women all laughed together as they walked down the boardwalk to Jump City's South Beach. At the head of the group was Becka, already having stuffed her beach wrap in her bag so as to flaunt her hard earned body. Her bikini was black, and glittered faintly with a bit of a shimmer that seemed to be built into the fabric. Behind her were Ami and Tara, both wearing bikinis as well, but in drastically different styles from each other. Ami's was much like Troia's, a Speedo style in green that was built for surfing. She would pick up a board at the surf shop with Donna when the Titan arrived. Tara's suit was light blue, conservative as she had relatively small breasts, and a slimmer, willowy frame.

Next was Hanna and Janice. The taller dark haired southerner was gushing in an excited voice as she ran a hand over her friend's swollen belly, which was covered by the one piece dark blue pregnancy suit she wore, which was decorated with a pattern of tropical flowers. Despite being seven months along, she was, as Becka had predicted, glowing and cute. Janice stood out from the rest of her friends, also having forgone her beach wrap already. Even though Becka had worked hard to get the body she had now, Janice still drew far more stares. The quiet girl wore a red bikini with thin gold stripes along it that accented every curve she had. She winked at a few girls as they walked past, and made a kissy face.

The girls giggled.

Ami glanced over her shoulder and faked a scowl, "Hey! Don't be hitting on other girls while I'm right here!"

"Ah dunno what ya talkin' about." Janice replied, batting her eyes and giving a cute southern pout. Ami blushed and grinned.

"Damn… fuckin… hot bitch…."

They all laughed and went back to their individual conversations. Becka stared scouting for a good place to set up, while Janice and Hanna continued to talk about baby details. Ami spoke softly aside to Tara, "Hey… did you really get to meet the fucker that raped Hanna?"

"If by 'meet' you mean peg him with heavy rocks and kick him in the ribs, then yeah." Tara scowled.

"Awesome." Ami grinned, "I'm glad it was you… I would have killed the bastard."

"Feh… he's not worth it."

"I guess. So how do you know Cassie and Gar?"

"We uh… I met Gar when I was in high school. We used to hang for a little while, but we kind of lost touch. I met Raven a few months back totally on accident at the library and we've been hanging out now and then since."

"She never mentioned you before."

"Gar had a crush on me back in the day… she didn't want to upset him."

"Ah. I see. So now you're all buddy buddy with the girl he's dating now?"

"Why not? Hanna's a riot, and Gar's a dweeb. I wouldn't date him even if he asked."

"Harsh. Do you have a boyfriend?" Ami tilted her head to the side and smiled.

"Nope. And it's looking like I'm not going to for a while." She looked down at Ami and grinned back at her, "And I'm totally not a hot dyke like you and Janice, so get all those naughty thoughts out of your head."

"Heh." Ami shook her head, bouncing her red and gold hair about, "I'm bi. Jan is the only girl for me."

"That's sweet." Tara looked up and blinked in surprise, "Whoa. Who's that chick?"

Ami looked to where Tara was indicating and grinned, "That would be Ginger Hamilton." She replied and tugged on her blonde friend's arm, "Come on! I'll introduce you!"

"You know Ginger Hamilton?" Tara's mouth dropped open a little, "Isn't she like, famous and rich?"

"Yes and yes. We went to school together."

"Wow." Tara smiled brightly as the two of them walked up to Ginger and Maggie. The blonde heiress wore an expensive looking stylized white bikini and a white gossamer half robe that was open in the front. A wide brimmed sun hat (also white) and over sized dark sunglasses finished off her ensemble. Tara noted she was actually wearing make up.

By contrast, Maggie was wearing a simple black two piece tank-ini. She had a beach bag slung over one shoulder, and was yammering away on her Blackberry as she flip flopped along behind her boss. Tara listened to the conversation with mild interest.

"No, Mr. Bouticelli, she simply cannot make it today. Yes, I know this is a cover shoot… do you really need her to be there so you can scout the locations and measure the light? Refracting of skin tones? I don't know, have your assistant do it, that's what we're here for… to assist. Oh, come on, Sasha's skin isn't in any way bad… no she doesn't have Ginger's complexion, but hey, who does? Does it really matter that much?" Maggie frowned and shook her head, "No, Georgie, not even for a few hours. She's taking the day off. No. No. N-" she tilted her head to the side, "You'd do that for me? Really? Well… I can ask her-"

Ginger's eye twitched and she reached back and grabbed the phone from Maggie, "Gerorgie? Hey, it's Ginger… yeah, look… I don't know how to say this nicely, so fuck off and stop trying to bribe my P.A. It's rude." She listened for a moment, then sighed, "Gerogie, Sasha's skin tone is almost exactly what mine is. No, she's not an ugly brute, and if you say that ever again, I'm telling her… yes I know she's your sister, and I know she'd stab you with that fountain pen she's so found of. Yes, I believe fucking off would be good about now. I'll see you tomorrow at the shoot, Gerogie… ciao!" and she hung up. Handing the phone back to Maggie she scowled, "What'd he offer you?"

"A week at his summer home in Venice."

"We'll go to Venice this winter when it gets too cold her, okay?"

"Sounds good." The brunet girl grinned.

Tara looked over at Ami, "Must be nice to be rich."

"You're talking to a girl who's allowance was a thousand a week when she was in high school, Tara."

"Who? You?"

"Yes, me. My dad owns half the shipping trade on the east coast. Becka's dad is the Senator for this part of California. Janice's parents own a huge cotton and tobacco plantation and rake in millions every year. Hanna's parents, even though they don't talk to her any more, are both big time corporate types in L.A. WJCIE is a swanky, expensive place to attend… Ginger just happened to be the richest of the rich kids."

"Wow… I feel poor." Tara turned to Ginger with a grin, "You like hanging out with poor kids?" she asked as she stuck out a hand to shake.

Ginger smiled back and shook the other blonde's hand, "I hang out with her, don't I?" she stuck a thumb over her shoulder at Maggie, who waved.

"I'm Maggie Delmont." She said, "How're you?"

"I'm great! Tara Markov." She waved back, "Didn't you go to WJCIE too?"

"Scholarship." Maggie grinned, "I'm the brains of this outfit."

"You're a freakin' painter." Ami rolled her eyes.

"A painter with a sweet job working for one of the hottest starlets in the world." Maggie reminded her, "And I don't have to go to collage for this shit."

Ami grinned, "I guess. Oh look, Becka found us a good spot."

Ginger tapped her on the shoulder as Janice and Hanna walked over. Becka joined them a moment later and Ami arched an eyebrow at her taller friend, "What?"

"Check that out." Ginger pointed at the shop they were standing next to on the board walk and they all looked over. Jinx was walking out of it wearing a backless one piece pink bathing suit. It covered her front from her neck to her stomach, where a large hole revealed her belly button piercing and the edge of one of her scars. She looked up as she walked out, and spotted them. Walking over, she shrugged, "What?"

"Would have thought you'd be in a bikini for sure." Becka said, "I mean, you could hardly keep your clothes on back in the dorms."  
"I hated that stupid skirt." Jinx replied with an eye roll, "I just wanted to cover most of the scars." She turned around and looked over her shoulder at her own back as best she could, "I think the exit wounds aren't too bad…" One scar on her lower back was the most visible, the shot she had taken from behind, while the other two were the through and through exit wounds from her shoulder and side. The only other scar's that could be seen were the thin sword wound on her leg, and the stab wound on her left forearm. She shrugged again, "I see you're not making any effort to cover your battle scars either, Ginger."

All eyes turned to Ginger, who self consciously fingered the scar on her side from the bullet wound she'd received the same night Jinx had been shot up. She blushed faintly, "I never had it corrected, even though all the photographers think it's ugly… it reminds me of what I used to be like, and how much I think I've improved."

"We all think you're a much better person now." Becka replied and hugged her with one arm.

Out of the blue, Tara said, "Holy shit. You got shot the fuck up, huh?" and stared at Jinx.

Everyone was silent for a few moments, then Jinx squinted at her, "Hey… you look familiar."

"Do I?" Tara grinned nervously.

_"She is who you think she is."_ Raven's voice spoke from above. They all looked up along with half the beach as three flying girls in bikinis floated to the ground next to the rest of the group. Raven, Troia and Starfire all smiled at the assembled young woman, and Raven motioned to the sand, "Are we here for the beach or to gawk at Jenny's battle scars?"

* * *

Ami and Troia had stuck around long enough to establish a spot for their things and to make sure someone was there to watch over them (Hanna volunteered, saying she would be doing little except lay in the sun and ogle the hot male eye candy) and then they were off to pick up some boards and catch some waves.

That left the rest of the girls to their own devices. Ginger and Maggie decided to join Hanna in her sun bathing (Maggie pulled out a sketch pad) and Becka and Starfire decided to play around in the shallow water. They also decided that a certain black and violet haired witch was going to join them.

"Cassie, if you don't get up and come in with us, I'm gonna have Kori _throw_ you in." Becka, hands on her hips, loomed over where Raven was lying on a towel in the sand. The dark girl looked up at her with a bored expression.

"I'm getting some sun."

Starfire floated up behind Becka and peered over her shoulder, "But Raven, your skin is resistant to the suns radiation. It is always the same color." She looked genuinely curious as to why Raven wanted to try and tan.

Raven looked down at her arm and frowned at her own pale, ashen skin, "Damnit… stupid half demon physiology…" she grinned up at Becka, "Another little perk."

"You don't get sun burns and you don't get a period." Becka scowled at her, "I really fucking hate you."

"Whatever." Raven waved it off.

"Kori, throw her about thirty yards out." Becka turned and started walking towards the water."

"Ha ha." Raven rolled her eyes and grinned over at where Jinx, Janice and Tara were lounging in the shade of an umbrella the pink haired girl had bought, "Why don't one of you go play in the water with- whoa!" Raven's eyes grew wide as dinner plates as Starfire bent down and lifted her friend off the ground, "Kori! Don't you dare! I swear I'll-" but she never got to complete her threat. Starfire hauled her back like a baseball and threw her with a light grunt. Raven screamed out a string of curses as she tried to control her flight path with her powers before she hit the water some thirty yards out. Star giggled at her friends, then flew off to join her fellow Titan in what promised to be the water fight to end all water fights.

"Holy shit." Janice blinked, "That was _so_ funny."

There was a beat of silence, then all three girls burst out laughing.

As they calmed down, Jinx wiped a tear from her eye, "She's going to be impossible to hang with later."

"Feh." Tara giggled, "That was worth it."

Janice laughed a little too, then looked sidelong at Tara, "Hey… when Cassie said you are who we think you are… what did she mean?"

Tara's smile turned sad, and she looked away, "I… used to know the Titans pretty well back in the day… I think there's still some pictures of me floating around the Tower if you've even been there…"

"You're Terra, aren't you?" Janice said it in an almost accusing manner. Jinx frowned at her.

Tara shook her head, the sad smile reaching her eyes, "I used to be. Before I died."

"You _died_?" Janice's mouth fell open.

"I guess… I'm a little sketchy on the details really… I don't remember any of it."

"But… Slade…" Janice looked helplessly over at Jinx.

Jinx shrugged, "I've met more than one person who's come back from the dead, Jan. Let's let Tara tell her story."

"You mean Terra." Jan frowned again.

"No," Tara said forcefully, "not any more. My memory… my _whole_ memory, has been changed. Raven wouldn't have even known who I was if I didn't look the same and have the same… uh… soul."

"Soul?" Jinx arched an eyebrow.

"Yeah." Tara shrugged, "Look, I don't get all this metaphysical crap either. All I know is that I was turned to a statue at the end of the fight with Slade, and when I woke up, I was the girl I am now. I have a whole different life. I remember birthdays from when I was four… with my parents. The ones I have now. It's like someone just programmed a whole new memory for me."

"Wow." Jinx blinked, "That's some serious tech, or some serious magic."

"That's insane." Janice shook her head, "Who could do that?"

There was silence for a few seconds, then Jinx spoke up softly, "Slade could. He has the resources, and I know damn well he has the complete lack of any kind of morals to erase someone's life and just make up a new one for them."

Tara looked at Janice with pleading eyes, "Look, Jan… just give me a chance okay? I'm not the crazy bitch that took over the city for Slade any more… I'm Tara. I'm just a normal girl going to school to be a geologist, trying to find a job to pay my bills, and wondering when the next time I'm going to get laid is."

Janice actually cracked a smile, "Been that long huh?"

Tara rolled her eyes, "God yes. I broke up with my last boyfriend like, six months ago, and I haven't had sex since then."

"Wow." Jinx grinned. "I guess we should be doing more than just looking at all these hot boys then, huh?"

"Not a bad idea… you game for a little hunting?" Tara's eyes sparkled.

"Hell yes." Jinx climbed to her feet, "Come on, Jan."

"Um, Jenny? I'm gay, and I have a girlfriend. I don't want to hunt for boys."

"Yeah, but you're hot and you don't mind putting your hand on my ass. Guys'll be flocking to us in no time."

Tara was fastening a transparent silk wrap around her waist as Janice sighed and stood up, "I can't believe you're making me do this."

"Making you?" Jinx snorted, "You totally want to feel up my ass."

Janice glared at her for a second, then looked away and pouted, "Yeah? So?"

Jinx grinned and turned so that both of her friends could get a good view of said nice ass, "Come on girls! We have some tail to hunt down."

* * *

Further down the beach, Ami paddled her board into position. The cove she and Troia were at was ideal for creating good sized waves that the main swimming area couldn't. As she stood up and started to ride her board, the Amazon warrior pulled up next to her and pointed at the shore, "Last one there buys the ice cream later!"

"You're on, bitch!" Ami grinned at her and they began to surf. Both rode the wave in expert fashion and as it grew larger, Ami rode high and Troia rode low. The shore just wasn't in the cards however, and the wave peaked too soon. Ami screeched as she flipped backwards off her board, and Troia just grinned up at the wall of water as it crashed over the top of her.

A minute and a half later, a spluttering Ami dragged herself and her board up to the shore. She shook the water from her hair and looked up at the long, lean legs before her, scowling, "No fair."

Troia looked down at her with a grin, "What was no fair? I made it to shore first."

"Yeah, but you can fly and throw pickups a few city blocks." Ami stood up, "It's not fair when you can just punch the wave and make it stop."

"I can't stop waves by punching them." Troia rolled her eyes, "I guess if I flew into one fast enough and hard enough though…" she tilted her head to the side as she thought about it.

"You think you could?" Ami grinned.

"I dunno. I'll try though." She backed up a few steps, "Help me look for a good one…"

* * *

Becka screamed and ducked away under the water again as another wave sloshed at her, "Kori!" the shouted as the came up laughing and spluttering out water, "No fair!"

"I do not see what the problem is…" Starfire grinned in a sly manner.

"Oh, I dunno… maybe that you're ten times stronger than me, and you're throwing water like an angry elephant!"

"I still do not see the problem." Starfire waved another arm through the water and hurled another wave at Becka, "Your Earth customs are strange to me!"

"Oh don't you dare give me that cute-alien-who-doesn't-know- glump!" Becka swallowed a mouthful of water as the wave hit her.

Starfire began to laugh, but was quickly cut off as a powerful blast of sea water sent her under the waves. She quickly surfaced and found Raven wading not far away, whistling innocently.

"You _did not_…" Star grinned and flew straight up, then cannon balled with all her speed not five feet from the dark Titan, blowing her friend out of the water.

Raven surfaced at the same time Star did and they glared with fiercely competitive smiles. Becka started for shore as fast as she could, "Uh oh. I'm getting the hell out of here…"

Starfire shoved both hands into the water and let loose a blast of epic proportions. She angled her hands so it would shove water straight at Raven in a nice arch with the pressure of a fire hose. Raven barely got a shield up in time and was still forced backwards.

Star laughed as Raven grit her teeth, "What is the matter, Friend Raven? Can you not 'bring it?'"

Raven suddenly smiled and held out one hand while maintaining her shield with the other. She created a portal on the surface of the ocean twenty feet away from her, and watched as water began to pour into the void. Quickly splitting her focus once more, she created an exit portal as well.

Five feet above Starfire's head. Pointing down.

Star let out a shriek as the water poured down on her in an eight foot wide torrent, pushing her down with the force of Niagara Falls. Her alien strength kept her from being crushed, but she found herself pinned. Growling out several bubbles from the sandy bottom of the swimming area, she slowly began to push her hands up against the torrent, charging an energy blast…

* * *

Becka flopped on to a towel Hanna had laid out for her, and sighed in the same way an exasperated parent would, "Those two…"

"I think it's great that Cassie is playing." Hanna said from next to her, also stretched out on a towel. "She doesn't do it nearly enough for her own good."

"They're behaving like children." Ginger, looking like a Greek Goddess where she was lounging not far away, getting some sun, waved a hand in the air, "You would think the Titans would have more decorum…"

"Like skipping out on your important meetings and engagements so you can spend the day at the beach with your friends is so mature…" Maggie added the finishing touches to the sketch she was doing and tore the page out, "Here you go, Hanna."

The blonde took the page and grinned. The picture was rough to be sure, but it was defiantly her, and she defiantly looked like a cute, glowing mother-to-be. "It's awesome."

"Thanks. I've done way too many of Ginger, so I think I'll do a landscape next." Maggie turned to the right and found a good angle with a lifeguard tower in the foreground and the pier and the sea in the background, "Perfect."

"Wow…" Becka stared up at the clear blue sky, "It's hot."

"You're almost dry. We should get some sun block on you." Hanna pulled out a tube of SPF35, "You don't want to have bad skin to go with that hot body."

"Cheers." Ginger spoke up, "You do look amazing, Becka."

"Thanks. You're pretty hot yourself."

"Naturally."

All three other girls rolled their eyes.

Suddenly a resounding boom echoed across the beach, and they all sat up and looked out at the ocean. A green ploom of energy tinged with red and orange was exploding across the waves, but dissipating quickly. At it's epicenter a huge geyser of water was shooting up into the air, sending two bikini clad figures along with it. As the tall one with red hair and the shorter one with black hair rag-dolled thought he air, the four girls squinted.

"Do you think they're conscious?" Becka asked.

Raven and Starfire came down and hit the water with loud smacks that could be heard from the shore. All four girls winced.

"Eh." Hanna shrugged, "They'll probably be okay…"

Maggie let out an eep! and slammed her sketch pad closed. Two seconds latter, sea water started to fall from the sky like rain. The downpour only lasted a few seconds, but it was enough. Ginger sat up slowly, brushing salt water from her skin.

"That was very much uncalled for." She said with a sigh.

Maggie giggled, wiping off her glasses, "Don't sweat it too much. It's the only way we're getting you wet today!"

Becka stood up with a sigh, "Hanna, let's go get Cassie and Kori before they drown. Maggie, Ginger, do the two of you want to go get some ice cream for the lot of us?"

"Sure." Ginger stood up, "I'll pay, Maggie will fetch."

"Oh I will, will I?"

"I don't pay you to sit around a draw pretty pictures."

"Since when is getting ice cream in my job description?"

"Are you on the clock or not?" Ginger grinned at her.

Maggie grumbled as she too stood up, "Fine, fine… but I'm getting an extra scoop."

"Maggie, sweetie, you don't want an extra scoop. Trust me. You're gaining weight." Ginger smiled sweetly.

"I am not!" Maggie scowled, "Just because you choose to maintain a hundred and ten pound weight doesn't make me fat because I want to look healthy!"

"At least you don't look like a beached whale." Hanna put in as Becka helped pull her to her feet.

The other two girls considered for a second, then Ginger nodded, "Okay. I'll give you that one."

"Gee, thanks." Maggie rolled her eyes, but smiled any way. "I'll be back in a little bit." And she grabbed one of Ginger's credit cards out of her purse.

* * *

"Six-oh-clock, coming up on your left flank." Tara muttered aside to Jinx as they walked down the board walk, "Cue friendly hands, Jan."

Janice smiled and (for the third time that day) reached over and casually placed her hand on Jinx's well shaped ass. The blonde and pink haired girl had pulled her suit up a little on her rear, and Jan snuck a finger inside the material with a giggle.

"A little too friendly, Janice." Jinx grinned and poked her friend in the side.

The three of them heard two male voices from behind then muttering a second later, "Holy shit! Do you think they're gay, or…"

"Don't know dude, just ask. Ask!"

A moment later a young man with a lean frame and decent muscle definition was stepping up next to Janice, on Jinx's left. The other young man, who looked much like his friend, stepped up next to Tara, on Jinx's right.

"Uh… hey there!" the one on the left said, "You girls out here all alone?"

"We're with some other girlfriends. Just taking a walk." Janice winked, "We don't mind the company though, if you want to tag along."

"A little forward, huh Jan?" Jinx nudged her and they giggled.

"Not at all!" the guy on the right said, "My name's Josh, and that's Aaron."  
Tara pointed at all of them in turn, "Tara, Jenny, Janice. Nice to meet you." Her eyes roamed him for a moment before she reached out and touched his arm lightly, almost accidentally, "Yep. Nice."

Both guys exchanged a look and grinned.

* * *

Ami was ducking behind a kind of blast shield she'd dug out of the sand. The rest of the surfers were further back on the beach, cheering Donna on as the Amazonian woman braced to lunch herself at the sea for the fifth time. Ami kept a sharp eye, then nodded, having done some quick calculations in her head.

"Try angling down at more of a thirty degree angle this time. And increase speed and force of impact if you can."

"But not so much I just fly through it." Donna noted.

"Right. Too much force and you'll be like an arrow. We need you to be like a bolder."

Donna dug in a little more, "Say when."

Ami watched the sea as a swell approached, waited for it to reach a cresting point, and shouted, "NOW!"

Troia blasted from the beach, spraying sand back almost forty feet as she did. Ami ducked behind her bunker, then popped back up as the sand fell. She watched as the Titan slammed into the wave at the perfect angle and velocity, spraying water back and blasting a hole in the ocean for a moment. The water rushed back in and swirled, but the wave did little more than slosh up on shore.

Ami jumped out of her shelter as the cheers roared up behind her. She pumped a fist in the air as a dizzy but grinning Donna floated back to shore, "Yeah! Way to go Wonder Girl!"

"All in a days work." Donna landed next to her and slumped, "Can I stop now?"

"Sure. Let's go see what the others are doing."

"Right." Donna took two steps and pitched over, "Oh… my head kind of hurts…"

Ami rolled her eyes, "Told you to use your arms more…"

* * *

Maggie was browsing the shelves of a shop up on the board walk, waiting for the ten cone ice cream order she's placed at the refreshment stand next door to be filled, when she saw something strange. A girl wearing a dark blue bikini was browsing a shelf ahead of her, and had long, white hair pulled back in a loose braid behind her head.

Maggie only knew one person with a body like that who had white hair.

"Rose?" she asked, stepping up and looking around the strange girl's shoulder.

Rose Wilson turned a smile to Maggie as she looked over her own shoulder, "Hello Margaret." Her lip was split and she had a dark swelling under her left eye. Maggie also noted several bruises along her ribs and a few on her well toned legs.

"Rose, what the hell happened to you? No one's seen you since the night of the dance!" Maggie smiled "We've all kind of missed you!"

"Kind of?"

"Oh! You know! Where have you been?"

"With my Father." Rose turned a bit more fully, "Margaret, I'd like you to give Raven a message for me."

"What?" Maggie looked confuse.

"It's for all of the Titans really. Tell them to stay out of the East End. Tell them Slade will brook none of their involvement in this."

Maggie suddenly felt very frightened, "Rose? What are you talking about? How do you know about what Slade would want? I mean-" she was cut off as she made a sick gurgling noise.

Rose turned the rest of the way around, digging the dagger she'd just buried in Maggie's stomach a bit deeper, "Also, tell Robin, when you see him…" she leaned in and let her lips brush Maggie's ear, even as the other girl's eyes grew wide and glazed behind her glasses. "Tell him I'll be waiting for a rematch."

As Maggie slumped to the floor, blood pooling around her, The Ravager chuckled and walked from the shop.

* * *

Closing Notes – You didn't really think this was going to end happily, did you? Yes, I know stabbing Maggie is cruel, but hey, at least it's not Hanna this time, huh? What? It's still too mean? You guys are a tough crowd, I'll tell ya… Tell me how much you hate me in your review! Or, alternately, if you think Maggie is annoying and want her killed off any way, tell me how cool I am. I don't really care which. Just review. 


	9. From Bad To Worse

Ties That Bind

A Teen Titans Fan Fiction by Jacob McDonald

Opening Notes - I'm drowning it two Lit classes this semester. I got this out only because I'm sick today and can't do much else but write. Good for you, crappy for me. Feh. Enjoy!

Standard disclaimers apply. I don't own Teen Titans.

* * *

Chapter Seven - From Bad To Worse

* * *

Tara laughed as Josh did another bad impression of David Letterman. She laughed long and hard and then leaned over and whispered in Jinx's ear, "Jenny, these guys are tool boxes. Let's ditch 'em."

"Amen to that." Jinx grinned at her then swatted Janice's hands away, "Jan! Damnit, I'm not gay!"

"But you said I could!" the southerner whined.

"Only until we found some boys!" Jinx motioned to Josh and Aaron, "Boys found!"

"Aw!"

"Wait… are you gay?" Aaron asked, looking mildly shocked, "But you're hot!"

"Oh, that's not a stereotype or anything." Jinx frowned, "Tosser. Beat feet before I decide I want to kick you really hard."

"Wha-" Josh started to look a little angry, but Janice cut him off.

"Those scars are bullet wounds, Sweetie. You'll want to run before she gets mad."

The two young men didn't need any more convincing than the pink energy that crackled around Jinx once. They ran for it.

Tara chuckled, "Man! I kind of wish I had Terra's powers! Glowing eyes would scare off a lot of dorks that wont stop hitting on me."

"It does have its uses." Jinx grinned back.

"Hey, what's going on in the refreshment stand?" Janice pointed and the three of them looked over. A crowd was forming as they stepped up to the door and peered inside.

Maggie was on the floor, laying in a pool of her own blood, and spluttering more out of her mouth in air bubbles. She was shaking and her eyes darted around wildly. "What the hell?" Jinx shoved aside a few people and shouted, "Has anyone called 9-1-1?" she looked around wildly, but no one responded. After a moment, Jinx burst out, "What the fuck is wrong with you people? Jan, I need you!"

Janice snapped out of the trance of horror she was in and the Valentines Day dance came rushing back to her. She gasped, and hurried forward, "Grab a towel, wrap the wound. She's going in to shock, so hold her down."

"On it." Jinx turned and grabbed the cell phone from the hand of a gawker as he was snapping pictures with it. She shoved him back before he could yell at her and dialed the three numbers she needed to. As she listened to the phone ring once, she yelled, "Tara! Go get Cassie!"

"What?" Tara blinked at her, still too shocked to do anything.

"Go get Raven! Now!"

Tara snapped out of it and nodded, "On my way!"

"Run, girl!" Jinx shouted, then turned her attention back to the phone even as she grabbed a towel to help Janice, who was leaning in to inspect the wound, "My name is Jinx. I'm a Teen Titan. No, this isn't a prank! I have a girl with a stab wound to the abdomen down at the refreshment stand on South Beach…"

* * *

Hanna blinked at Troia with her mouth hanging open, "You stopped a _wave_?"

"Just a ten footer. Nothing to be impressed with."

"Donna, waves of that size have enough potential energy to power Jump City for ten minutes. I studied it in my physics class two years ago."

"Well, apparently Donna has more energy than a wave." Ami grinned, "Cool."

"You're both crazy." Ginger waved a hand, "Now where is Maggie? We sent her to get ice cream fifteen minutes ago."

Raven and Starfire, laying on towels and recovering from their fall into the water both sighed. Raven sat up a little, "She's buying a lot of ice cream. It probably just takes a while for the order to be filled."

"Sub-par service is what it is." Ginger sniffed.

"This isn't a five star hotel, Ginger." Ami reminded her.

Becka squinted at a figure running towards them, "Hey… is that Tara?"

Raven looked over, then frowned, "Yes. And she's upset." Standing, she watched as Tara plowed into a young man who had inadvertently stepped in her way.

"Move!" she shouted as she shoved him aside. He went sprawling in the sand, and Tara waved a hand at the group of girls she was running to, "Raven! Raven, we need you!"

"What?" Raven lifted off the ground and flew to meet Tara as the blonde slowed and stopped, breathing hard, "Tara, what's wrong?"

"It's Maggie…" Tara looked up, tears in her eyes, "She's been stabbed."

* * *

Five minutes later, Raven ran into the refreshment stand, which Jinx had largely cleared out. She saw the pink and blonde haired Titan compressing Maggie's chest several times, then Janice leaning in and breathing into her mouth twice. "Damnit. Move." She ordered as she walked over.

Jinx, her hands slick with blood, nodded in a weary manner and slumped back. Janice looked worried, "Cassie… can you do anything?"

Raven reached out a hand and a white glow surrounded Maggie. After a moment, her eyes flew open and she started to clutch at the dagger still in her gut, "Oh… God! Agggaaa!" she screamed and arched her back. Raven pushed her down and held her face in her hands.

"Maggie! Look at me!"  
"Cassie! It hurts! God… it hurts!"

"I know, Maggie, I know. Just focus on me for a moment, okay?" Maggie seemed to follow directions because she nodded, still sobbing and wincing. "Who did this? Who stabbed you?"

Maggie gasped for breath a few times, then swallowed hard, "Rose… it was Rose…"

Raven pulled away and passed a hand over Maggie's face. The brunet girl fell asleep instantly, and Raven looked up at Janice, "Stop the bleeding as best you can until EMT's get here. I'll see what I can do to repair what I can." She then looked over her shoulder, where Starfire and Troia were hovering, looking concerned and angry at the same time. Her voice was dark as she ordered, "Call Robin."

* * *

An hour later, Robin was shoving the young man who had been working the counter of the refreshment stand against a wall and screaming in her face, "A babe with white hair walks into your shop and you don't even notice her? Another good looking girl gets stabbed and collapses and you don't even realize it until five minutes later?" the young man he was screaming at winced and turned his face away.

"Robin," Troia put a hand on his shoulder and pulled him back, forcing him to let go of the young man, "you're being unreasonable."

"This isn't right, Donna. This is… this is…"

"Sick." Raven said from where she was inspecting the corner of the shop Maggie and Ravager had been in. "Rose has gone off the deep end. Slade's made her into a monster."

"Agreed." Starfire hovered in the doorway, her bikini drawing appreciative stares from the cops that walked past outside.

"How can there be no witnesses? This shop is always busy this time of year…" Robin turned a glare on the poor shop clerk, who cowered away from him again.

Jinx poked her head around Starfire in the doorway, "Hey, she's awake, and they finally got the dagger out." She frowned, "She's asking for you, Robin."

Robin nodded, then turned to the three bikini clad women in the room, "Keep looking for clues. Raven, you're with me."

As he and Raven left with Jinx, Starfire and Troia continued to look about the shop for any physical evidence. The clerk cleared his throat and spoke up, "So… is this how you Titan girls are going to dress when you fight crime from now on? Please say yes."

Both young women turned glares on him that would make any man piss himself. The clerk wasted no time in fleeing the shop.

* * *

"It wasn't random in any way." Maggie muttered as Raven worked on healing the stab wound in her stomach. She was lying on a bed in the back of an ambulance, talking to Robin and Jinx while she was being looked after by EMTs and the dark Titan who was healing her. She was half awake from the pain killers and Raven's sleep spell, so she was speaking softly and slurred her words every now and then.

"Rose was looking for me specifically. She was hunting me."

"She was in the shop before you, wasn't she?" Robin asked.

"Yes." Maggie nodded slowly, "She was waiting for me, and she must have had that dagger ready… she was wearing a bikini, so there was no where to hide it."

"Makes sense. She wanted to hurt you… to hurt us." Jinx scowled, "I'm so kicking her ass when I find her."

"She told me to give the Titans a message… she wanted me to tell you that Slade says to keep out of the East End."  
"Fuck that." Jinx palmed a fist, "I _live_ in the East End."

"He wants us there." Robin shook his head, "Telling us to stay out… he knows we wont. No, it's an open invitation to come in and try to stop the gang violence. He's involved in all of this deeply… I just can't figure out why yet…"

"Who can really ponder what goes on in the head of a madman?" Raven muttered as she continued to concentrate on her healing.

"Slade isn't crazy." Robin replied firmly, "Evil, twisted and cruel, yes. But not crazy."

"Rose wanted me to tell you, Robin…" Maggie took a breath and shook her head to try and dispel the fuzziness, "She wanted me to tell you she's looking forward to a rematch…"

Robin nodded grimly, "So am I. And next time, I'm bringing her _down_."

"Fuck yeah!" Jinx pumped a fist in the air, "When do we start?"

"Right now. Let's go."

"Robin…" Raven looked up from her healing and caught his eye, "The research at the Tower…"

He paused and nodded, "Raven's right… I'm headed back to the Tower to go over those files with a fine tooth comb. Jinx, I want you and Speedy to search through the East End and see if you can't turn up some kind of lead. I'll have Starfire and Troia sweep the rest of the city to-"

Starfire landed next to him suddenly and took his arm, "Donna should go with Jennifer. Having eyes in the air and on the ground will better suit our needs." She looked at him pensively, "I will investigate with Speedy."

Robin arched an eyebrow, "Why so meek, Star?" he smiled, "Feel free to make suggestions whenever you feel you have a better idea… we've always worked that way."

"Yes… I simply do not wish to question your command…"

"Don't worry about it. It's good to see you developing more leadership skills. And you're right anyway. Speedy will go with you to try and find something in the rest of Jump while the rest of us hit those files as hard as we can." Turning to Jinx, he sighed, "Jenny… you'll have to tell the girls that their fun day is over. Have them stay together tonight, and make sure they can contact us if they need anything."

"Will do." Jinx nodded, "Tell Donna I'll be waiting for her at my place."

"Hey," Robin grabbed her arm before she could run off, "Register that T-Comp you stole as number TW009. I've set up your full function access on that registry."

Jinx blushed a little, "Um… okay… so you knew about that huh?"

"Jen, I know about everything you've taken from the Tower." He rolled his eyes under his mask, "You're good, but you're not that good."

"Heh… yeah." She waved as she trotted off. Starfire watched her go, then lifted off the ground.

"I will change back at the Tower and give Speedy your orders."

"Great. Raven and I will finish up here."

Raven sensed Starfire's fear and self loathing clearly as she flew off, but pushed it aside for now. Maggie still had a ways to go before she was out of the woods, and it was going to take all of her concentration to get her through it.

* * *

Jinx sighed once more as she stepped up to the huddled group of girls outside the refreshment stand. They all looked up at her with anxious expressions, and she almost laughed at how worried they seemed.

"Maggie's fine. Raven is healing her wound now, and the EMTs were able to remove the dagger without further damage to her body." The pink haired Titan paused for a moment, then continued with a frown, "Robin wants all of you to stick together for the rest of the day and tonight. Have a slumber party or something." She pointed as Ginger began to say something and frowned at the blonde heiress, "Especially you, Ginger. Ravager's attack on Maggie wasn't coincidence. She was looking for someone she knew Cassie and I were close to, but not one of the Second Floor Girls." Jinx swallowed hard and looked away, "I have a feeling she's saving you four for a special occasion."

Hanna looked a little sick as she clutched her swollen belly, and Becka grabbed her arm, her face betraying her fear. Ami and Janice stepped close to one another and held each other's hand. Jinx looked to Tara and saw her looking determined and grim.

"Scared, Tara?" she asked.

"Like you wouldn't believe." Tara replied and clenched a fist, "But if that bitch comes after me or my friends… I'll make sure she regrets it."

Jinx looked down and nodded, a frown etched on her face, "Alright. Everyone back to Becka's Jeep and Ginger's BMW. Stop by apartments or whatever but I want everyone in the same place and camped out in an hour. Tara, call Cassie with your T-Comp when you know where you'll be staying."

"Right." The blonde nodded.

"I'll see everyone tomorrow." Jinx smiled at them, "I promise."

The girls all nodded and said goodbye, then walked off to the parking lot where the cars were. Jinx watched them go with a frown, then looked back down, where Tara had been standing a moment before.

She walked forward and inspected the cracks in the ground, broken in the specific shape of Tara's feet, then stood up and mumbled, "Interesting."

* * *

Speedy scratched at his head as he flipped another file shut, "Man! Donna sure brought back a lot of info on this guy! She _must_ have slept with someone…"

Beast Boy chuckled and Cyborg rolled his one human eye, "Right, because that's the only way anyone can get what they want. You're a damn horndog, Roy."

"I'm a one woman horndog, thanks. Speaking of women though… what's up with you and Jenny lately?"

Cy sighed and leaned away from the file he was reading, "I don't know. She's hot then cold, then she'll tell me how much I mean to her and not talk to me for weeks. I think she's confused and really doesn't know what to make of all this new good guy stuff."

"Well, hopefully she'll come around now that she's a Titan." Beast Boy put in, then flipped his file shut, "How is reading about thirty year old military acquisitions getting us closer to Slade again?"

"Donna's contact said all this had something to do with how he got to be the way he is. Some military experiments or something." Speedy grabbed another file, "We wont be able to piece it all together until we compare notes and-"

The doors to the upper levels swooshed open, cutting him off. They all looked over and saw Starfire stepping out, adjusting the band on her upper right arm and frowning. She looked up when she saw them and hesitated for only a moment.

"Robin has issued new orders for us, following the reappearance of Rose Wilson. Jinx and Troia will be sweeping the East End, and Speedy and I are to investigate in the rest of the city. Cyborg, Beast Boy, the two of you will be joined shortly by Robin and Raven and you shall piece together Slade's past as quickly as possible."

Speedy stood up and stretched, glaring at Star the whole time, "Looks like I'm back on the streets, guys. Catch you later." And he walked to the elevator Star had just come out of. He brushed past her, but didn't say a word. Star winced all the same.

As soon as he was gone, Cyborg gave her a worried look, "Are the two of you fighting about something?"

"Yes. It is a private matter." Starfire lowered her eyes, "Just know that I am dreadfully sorry, and that I will do my best to convince friend Roy to forgive me in his own time." She shook her head as tears started to well up again, and quickly flew to the windows, where she opened one and hovered outside, "I will see you upon my return." And she was gone.

"Dude…" Beast Boy looked over at Cy, "Just what the hell is going on around here these days? Roy is pissed at Kori, Raven and Dick are trying to kill each other every few seconds, Jenny is acting like she doesn't know what to do with herself… are the only normal ones you, me and Donna?"

Cy laughed a little, "Yeah. You know things are going down hill when you and I are the only normal ones…"

* * *

Toria knocked on Jinx's door and waited for several moments before the pink and blonde haired girl opened it up. The Amazonian woman was wearing her usual star patterned body suit, along with her silver gauntlets and lasso. She stepped into Jinx's apartment and inspected the young woman before her.

Jinx wore black leather pants with her usual black ass kicking combat boots. Her top left her stomach exposed and was held up by spaghetti straps, dropping to reveal a little cleavage. She'd dyed her hair pure pink once again, and had it up in its devil horn style. Strapped to the back of her waist were two fighting sticks, much like the ones Robin used, and at her side in a pouch was her com unit.

Troia nodded, "Ready to kick ass?"

"Born ready." Jinx's eyes flared pink.

Donna laughed, "Oh good. All that sneaking around with Roy the other night really got me in the mood to just bust some heads and get info the old fashioned way."

"Good, 'cause I'm not in the mood to hold back tonight." Jinx palmed a fist.

"Then let's go." Troia flew out the door and Jinx followed, "I'll be in the air to support you, but this is your part of the city, Jen. You'll know where to look for what rocks we need to kick over."

"Right." Jinx nodded, "Off to Sycamore Street then." And she quickly climbed a nearby fire escape so she could get to the roof tops.

* * *

Tara shut the back of Becka's Jeep firmly and turned towards the large estate style home that the Senator's daughter lived in, twenty minutes drive past the city limits. She had a sleeping bag under one arm and her backpack slung over her other shoulder. A few feet away, Janice was pulling the last of her overnight things out of the passenger side door. Shutting it after herself, the southerner turned to the blonde, "Ya act like ya'll aint never seen a big house before, Tee."

"I've never been in one this big." Tara replied, then sighed, "Odd one out again."

"Oh hush." Janice swatted her arm, "You fit right in with these girls. You're one of a kind, Tara."

"Thanks." Tara smiled at her, "Let's get inside so I can call Raven."

"Why da'you get one of those cool T-Communicator thingies?"

"Because it's mine… from before."

"I thought'cha couldn't remember any of that."

Tara shrugged, "I can't. It doesn't change the fact that it all happened though, or that this com technically still belongs to me."

"Hmm." Janice shrugged as well, "Whatever. You're still just a normal girl to all of us."

"Glad to hear it." Tara looked around as they entered the foyer, "Holy Hell." She blinked at the crystal chandelier, the sweeping grand staircase, and the double doors that led into a central hall in the middle of the first floor.

"It _is_ rather impressive." Jan said with a smile, suddenly slipping into a more west coast accent, and leaving her heavy Southern drawl behind, "Much larger than my house. I actually grew up in an old plantation mansion in Georgia."

"Wow. You just switch accents on the fly don't you?"

"Sorry." Janice blushed a little, "I have to remember to talk normally and not with the Southern accent sometimes. It's only when I'm really stressed and can't focus on something else that I revert back to it."

"Isn't it more natural for you to speak with your home lingo though?" Tara cocked her head to the side.

"Some times. Other times, I prefer to talk like this. Even I admit it's easier to understand." Janice waved a hand, "What kind of house did you grow up in?"

"I grew up in a two bedroom apartment in uptown Jump City."

"Heh." Janice motioned up the stairs and they started to climb, "You should see Ami's house. It's _huge_." She shook her head, "And her dad's summer house on the lake in Virginia still has five bed rooms and three baths."

"Christ." Tara shook her head, "What am I walking in to?"

"And all of that is nothing compared to what Ginger grew up with, let alone what she personally owns now. I guess Hanna would be the least rich of the girls we went to school with. Especially now. She's all on her own now that her parents have disowned her."

"That's pretty shitty. I really like Hanna… maybe I can help her out."

"How's that?"

"Well, I work over at the Westbrook Mall, at the information desk. Boring as sin, but it pays the bills that the student loans don't cover."

"I don't know if Hanna would like working at the information desk at the mall… all those clothes around and she can't shop for them?" Janice shook her head as they stopped in front of a bedroom door that had a lot of noise coming from the other side of it.

"I know. And I have the perfect solution for that too… some of the upscale stores are looking for personal shoppers right now."

"Wait… who?" Jan looked confused.

"Personal shoppers. People who help you pick out stuff that looks good."

"That's an actual job?"

"Yep."

"God… Hanna was born for that."

"I know. Isn't it great?"

"We'll have to tell her as soon as possible." Janice agreed and opened the door to Becka's room. They were instantly assaulted by the noise inside.

Ami was chasing Becka around, trying to get a candy bar the brunet had obviously stolen from her back, while Hanna sat on the bed and laughed her head off. Ginger was standing off to the side, wearing only her underwear and pulling silk pajamas out of a bag she'd brought. Someone's cell phone was ringing, and mid volume indie rock pumped out of the speaker system attached to Becka's computer at the desk in the corner.

Janice sighed and stepped into the madness with practiced ease, "Becka! Give Ami back her chocolate! You know how she needs it to keep sane! Hanna, stop instigating and help me control Becka. Ginger, put some damn clothes on! And someone answer that phone!"

Tara dropped her backpack and sleeping bag, and pulled out her T-Comp with wide eyes. Flipping it open, she hit a few buttons and lifted it to her face, "Tara to Raven. Please come in."

The face that appeared on the screen was one she'd been hoping to avoid having to see for some time. Robin looked at her seriously, _"Report."_

"Uh… where's Raven?" Tara asked.

Robin actually blushed a little and smiled lightly, _"Currently resting in her bed."_

* * *

Robin scratched at his head with a lopsided grin, "She was so exhausted from healing Maggie that she fell asleep on the back of my bike on the way back to the Tower. I carried her up to her room, and you called just as I got her tucked in."

Tara smiled up at him, _"Aw. That's sweet. Do you do that for all the Titan girls? Can I get tucked in tomorrow night?"_

"You're not really a Titan, Tara." Robin's smiled faded, "I'm sorry I snapped at you with an order. Are all the girls together?"

_"Yep."_ Tara looked away from the screen as there was a crash in the background, _"And I can't say that I think it's a good idea. I don't expect to live out the night without severe injury, mental scaring, and perhaps the witnessing of lesbian sex." _

Robin chuckled, "Just make sure they all stay there. And thank you for staying with them."

_"Robin?"_ Tara looked meek as the sound from beyond her com faded. She had obviously moved away from the other girls, _"Um… are you mad that Raven contacted me?"_

"I'd be lying if I said I no." he frowned, "When she and I discovered the truth, we agreed it would be best if you didn't find out. We wanted you to live a normal live with no complications or ties to your troubled past. We had your best interest in mind."

_"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to integrate myself so much into her life… it just kind of happened that way."_

"It's not your fault… and you have to know that all of us… myself included, don't blame you for what Terra did. And even if we did, we've all moved past it and forgiven her as well."

Tara looked down and tears glistened in her eyes, _"You're a good guy, Robin. Thanks."_

"Any time. You're doing a great service to the Titans, Tara. If you ever need help for anything, call us."

_"Thank you."_ She said again, then wiped her eyes and straightened up_, "Alright. Time to dive into the insanity. Bet you don't send Cybrog and Starfire into death traps like this."_

"I reserve these kinds of missions for the bravest of the team." Robin smiled at her, "Call if you need anything."

_"Right."_ The blonde nodded, _"Tara out."_

Robin shut his com and sighed. Looking down at Raven, he saw her staring up at him with a soft smile. He arched a corner of his mask and she just smiled wider.

Scowling, Robin stomped off, "Shut up, Raven."

"Didn't say a thing."

"Yeah, whatever. You don't have to. Get some rest."  
"I will. Thank you for bringing me up… you great big softie you."

"I said shut up."

"If you really want me to Robbie-the-Teddy."

"You really want to get assigned sewer patrol, don't you?"

Raven shut up.

* * *

Speedy stared out across the city as the sun was starting to set, trying to pick the next most likely spot to dig up any info on Slade and Ravager from his vantage on top of a twenty story building down town. He was leaning on his bow, but lifted it with a sigh and slung it across his back as he turned around, speaking to the roof top in general.

"Come out, Starfire. I know you're there."

Star peeked around the AC unit she was hiding behind, and blinked at him in a worried fashion. She slowly floated over and landed a few feet away from him, her hands folded in front of her in a demur manner. She looked up at him, saw the angry expression on his face, and quickly looked away.

He rolled his eyes, "You know I'm angry with you, and yet you've been following me around all day, not getting a lick of work done. Whatever it is you want to say to me, spit it out and be done with it."

Star looked up at him again, tears pooling in her eyes, "I am… sorry Roy. I did not mean to anger you so by following you."

"Star, I'm hardly angry with you for following me. You know why I'm mad."

"I…" she looked away again, "It was the first time. The _only_ time." Placing one hand on her ornamental arm guard, she sighed and let her tears fall, "I do not know what possessed me to do the cheating, but I feel most ashamed. I will never do so again."

"That's great. But, you know, doing it once is usually enough to end a relationship." Speedy grit his teeth, "What I want to know, Starfire, is why you did it in the first place."

She looked back up at him, "The man I was with… you know him?"

"His name is Gregory Holt. Independently wealthy, twenty-two years old. Lives alone, no living relatives, no arrest record." Speedy shrugged, "He's a regular guy who inherited a load of money when someone died."

"He is a thief. A master thief." Starfire's right hand curled into a fist and she felt her muscles tighten, "He is Red-X, and he is a liar. He said many things to me… things I now see were to lower my defenses and make me more susceptible to his suggestion that we… share ourselves."

"So you were seduced by the enemy." Speedy shook his head with a sigh, "Okay. Fine. You were fooled into it. That's okay, but you still willingly cheated on your boyfriend… who happens to be the best friend I have in the world."

"I did. And I am very sorry for it."

"I'm not the one you should be saying that to."

"Robin must not find out." Starfire looked up at him with a dead look in her eyes, "It would destroy him."

"Star… Kori, if you don't tell him, I will." Speedy sighed and looked away, "Sure he'll be pissed, and sure he'll probably break up with you and maybe even kick you off the team… but you can't keep a secret like this. It'll just weigh on you and…" he looked at her and stopped talking. She was floating off the ground, he eyes burning with green light, and red and orange energy rippling along her limbs. She was shaking lightly as she growled down at him.

_"Robin must not find out." _

Speedy gulped, but drove forward, "Kori, look at yourself! You're fucking other guys, hiding from your team, and by the looks of it," he paused and motioned to her, "you're ready to _kill_ me for threatening to tell Dick something he has every right to know."

Starfire suddenly stopped glowing and landed hard on the roof. She looked down at her hands and shook her head, "X'hal… I am… losing control."

"Kori… it's okay. You're upset, and you don't want Dick to find out… I get that. I've cheated on girls in the past, I know the feeling. But you have to fess up."

"I cannot… he will hate me-"

"Kori." Speedy cut her off, looking very serious, "Dick will be mad, and he'll yell and stomp around and say horrible things… but he'll never hate you. I don't think he could live with himself if he did."

She looked up at him with teary eyes, "Do you really think so?"

Speedy nodded, "I mean… come on, Kori. You're _the one_, you know? He'll love you until the day he dies."

She nodded slowly, then straightened up and wiped away her tears. "I will tell him. But first, you and I have to undertake a mission."

"Yeah. I was thinking we could run down to the old steel works and see if Slade has set up shop there again, or-"

"You misunderstand." Star shook her head, "We will not be looking for Slade or Ravager this night."

"Um… we're not?"

"No…" Star looked up at him and her eyes flashed green, "You must help me on a more personal mission." She lifted off the ground and clenched a fist in front of her, "We are going to capture and arrest Red-X."

* * *

Four men stood around a body shop at the end of an ally off Sycamore Street in the East End of Jump City. There were currently two cars in the shop, both having been torn apart and the parts scattered. There were piles of expensive looking rims in one corner, and several boxes over flowing with stereos and speakers. Off to one side was a work bench with containers full of computer chips and wire harnesses.

The four men were currently taking a break from stripping every last valuable component out of the cars they were working on, sitting in a semi circle and drinking beer from bottles still in the paper bags they were purchased in. All of them winced as the sound of mettle crunching resonated throughout the shop.

"What the hell was that?" one of them stood up and looked around.

Suddenly, a steel door next to the closed garage door buckled in and was torn from its hinges. A tall woman in a black body suit covered in stars walked in and tossed it aside like it was made of paper.

All four men were now on their feet and they were grabbing pipes and crowbars as the woman walked into the room with a shorter pink haired companion in tow. They stopped in the half circle of men and the taller one spoke, "All right, boys. I want you guys to take a break from stripping cars and modding hoopties and answer a few questions."

"What the fuck you want, bitch?"

The tall woman frowned, "I want to know what you know about Slade and the Ravager. We have a tip that they're providing protection to this outfit in exchange for you guys only stealing the rides they specify."

"Get fucked, lady." Another of the men flipped the two girls off.

Troia frowned, "I want you to tell what you know."

"And what does she want?" the first man pointed at Jinx with his pipe.

"She wants for you not to tell me so she can beat it out of you."

"Well," one of the men took a step forward, "I hate to disappoint a lay-" he never got the rest out, because Jinx and already darted at him and slammed him in the throat with an elbow. He went down hard, gagging and trying to breath.

Troia sighed, "Get what you can, Jinx."

"Will do." The pink haired witch grinned and ducked a crowbar, coming back in with a punch that the Amazonian warrior could hear splintering ribs.

She quickly flew to the back of the shop and through the door marked 'office.' Once there, she rifled through the papers on the desk and started ripping open drawers. After what seemed like several minutes, she found a list of cars under some of the papers that was all checked off except for the two at the bottom.

As she read through it, she called over her shoulder, "How's it going, Jinx?"

"They won't say anything!" Jinx yelled back, "They're just like, _Oh! My arm!_ and _Ah! My mouth!_"

"Well, keep trying." Tucking the list away in a pouch, she searched for anything else of use. Coming up empty handed, she walked back to the garage area.

Her eyes widened when she saw two men lying on the floor, bleeding from head wounds and curled around broken ribs, and a third pulling him self out of a stack of boxes. Jinx had the fourth man on his knees and, as Troia watched in horror, she twisted his arm around and slammed an open palm into his elbow, snapping it like tinder. There was a feral, excited look on the pink haired girls face, and she was grinning like mad.

"Jinx!" Troia flew across the room and pushed the witch away from the man as he fell to the ground, screaming, "What in the name of Hades are you doing?"

Jinx looked confused for a moment, then shook herself out of her funk, "Uh… sorry, got carried away."  
"Carried away?" Troia pointed, "Don't break bones unless you have to! He's going into shock now!"

"Oh… uh, sorry?" Jinx rubbed the back of her head, "Not used to holding back."

"Whatever." Troia watched as the fourth man made a mad dash for the exit and fled into the night. She turned back to the broken man and dragged him over to his buddies. Turning back to Jinx she shook her head, "Call EMTs for these guys."

"Aren't you going to go after that last one?" Jinx asked as she pulled out her com.

Troia grinned a little and shook her head, "Time for Crime Busting 101, Jinx; If you want to catch a hawk, let a pidgin think it's given you the slip."

* * *

"Duuuude…." Beast Boy whined, "This is soooo boring!"

Robin didn't even look up from the file he was reading, "Stop complaining and get to work."

"I've only started complaining!"

"Then take a break. Get me a cup of coffee while you're up." Robin flipped a page.

"I'll take a Mountain Dew, Green Genes." Cyborg put in as he sat down the file he was reading and picked up another for cross reference.

Beast Boy looked between them for a moment, then sighed and stood up, "Fine."

"Don't forget the sugar and creamer," Robin muttered, "I like-"

"I've lived with you for six years, Dick. I know how you take your coffee." Beast Boy sounded mutinous.

Robin looked up, startled, "You do?"

"Yeah. Two packs of Equal and two teaspoons of the Coffee Mate stuff you get. The Carmel is your favorite, but French Vanilla will do in a pinch."

"Whoa." Robin put down the file, "How in the hell…"

"Seriously, Dick. How do I take my coffee?"

"You don't drink coffee."

"Right. How do I take my tea?"

Robin blinked, "Seven sugar cubes, and only to annoy Raven."

"Right again. See? We know each other better than you think."

"We do, don't we…" Robin frowned down at the file, "Huh."

"What's up?" Cyborg looked over at him and Beast Boy paused and arched an eyebrow.

"It's just… I never realized how much we've integrated ourselves into each other's lives… and I'm kinda surprised at how it doesn't bother me at all."

"What do you mean?" Beast Boy asked.

"I dunno… I guess… Batman drilled self sufficiency into me from an early age, and I always prided myself on my detachment from emotions and…" he trailed off.

Cyborg spoke up quietly, "Is that why you've been having so many problems with Kori lately?"

"Part of it." Robin muttered, "I guess I never realized how much every one of you guys means to me."

"Yeah, well…" Beast Boy turned back to the kitchen, "We're your family now, Dick. You're stuck with us."

Robin watched him go for a moment, then picked his file back up and grinned down at the picture of a man with white hair and an eye patch staring back at him with a scowl on his bearded face, "Huh. Take that, Slade, you twisted bastard."

* * *

"Becka!" Tara shouted over the music, laughing and giggling, "Help!"

Becka glanced up from where she was typing an English 110 paper at her computer and saw Janice and Ami tickling the poor blonde girl and laughing. She sighed, "Jan! Ami! She's not a lesbian!"

"She slept with Hanna though!" Ami protested.

"I'm not a lesbian either." Hanna pointed out, "It was only because there was just the one bed."

"She's still cute when she giggles." Janice poked Tara one last time, then let her up, "You're fun, Tara."

"Glad you think so…" Tara was a little breathless, "Ginger… you're normal aren't you? Everyone else here is weird."

"Compared to these girls?" Ginger snorted and flipped a page in the month old fashion magazine she was perusing, "I'm as normal as they come." She arched an eyebrow at a picture, "Oh look… it's me. That dress made my boobs look droopy."

"Right." Becka rolled her eyes and turned back to her paper, "Because millionaire model/actresses are totally normal."

"I think you might be the most normal one here, honestly." Hanna spoke up, arching an eyebrow at Becka.

"Me?" she turned back around and scoffed, "I'm the daughter of a US Senator. How is that _normal_?"

"No, I see her point…" Ginger started pointing around the room, "Amelia is a goofy girly-butch half-lesbian, Janice is gay but acts straight in every aspect except her sex life, Hanna's a knocked up teenager with a shape-shifting boyfriend, Tara's a memory wiped hippy grunge chick, and I'm a fashion model. Compared to us, you're downright boring."

Becka blinked, "Um… I'm not sure if that was an insult or a compliment."

"Yeah, you seem good at that, Ginger." Tara winked.

"Oh, she's the queen on insults." Hanna laughed a little, "If you want to learn to rip someone down, you go to Ginger for lessons."

"I don't… I mean…" Ginger grew quiet and looked down at the ground, "If I had known what you were going though then, Hanna… I never would have-"

"Water under the bridge." Hanna cut her off, "Though the 'ragged fuck toy' comment almost made me loose it big time."

"Oh, God…" Ginger buried her face in her hands, "I have no idea how you've been able to forgive me for that… I was such a bitch."

"Eh." Hanna shrugged, "That thing where you got shot to save me from getting my head blown off kind of evened things up."

"Yeah. Then Rose saved both of us." Ginger trailed off and everyone was silent for a few moments.

Ami spoke first, "How could she do that to Maggie? Rose was so nice in school… she just…"

"Robin says she's working for Slade now." Tara put in, "He's her father, after all. It… can't have had too good an impact on her mind."

Janice shook her head, "Still… she went from sensible quiet girl to mass murderer in four months… what the Hell could Slade have done to her?"

"Probably the same thing he did to me." Tara spoke quietly.

Everyone was silent again for a few minutes, then Becka spoke up, "Does anyone know a different word for fleeting? I've used it like, seven times already."

"Transient." Ami muttered, "Sounds more professional too."

"Thanks." And the brunet girl turned back to her paper. The rest of the girls all resumed chatting quietly, reading, or whatever else they chose to do for the night.

Only Tara stared off at the wall, her mind still turning in circles and running a mile a minute.

* * *

"Starfire!" Speedy shouted as he jumped from one building ledge and swung down to another rooftop somewhere uptown, "Slow down!"

Starfire looked back at him over her shoulder from a hundred yards ahead of him, and floated to a stop. She quickly flew back to him, "What is it, Speedy?"

"I… I'm not…" he gasped for breath, and leaned his hands on his knees for a moment, breathing hard. After a moment, he looked up, "I'm not Robin. I can't keep up with you like this."

Star blushed a little, "I am sorry… but Greg's apartment is just a few buildings away now."

"Star… I know, okay? I saw you there, remember? I did a full background check on the guy." He swallowed hard, and finally seemed to get his breath back, "Let's just be cool about this. You want to take him down. I get that. You want to make sure he doesn't blab to Robin about his relationship with you. I get that too. But that doesn't change the fact that if we go busting in there guns blazing, he could turn violent and potentially very dangerous. He's proven before what kind of skill he has with that suit."

"He will most likely not be wearing it." Star pointed out.

"Recon is still in order. And if we can take him down without any kind of fight at all, that'd be preferable."

"What is your plan?" she cocked her head to the side, folded her hands behind her back and looked at him quizzically from where she floated in front of him. He grinned at how cute she looked.

"Well, he thinks you're all in to sleeping with him… you'll be the bait and the hook. Just go in, hug him, then clock him a good one and put him out. By the time he wakes up, he'll be in a cell."

"I do not know if I approve of such underhanded methods. Tamaranians prefer to confront our enemies in a forward manner."

"Kori, our concern should be keeping civilian casualties and collateral damage to a minimum. If there's even a chance he's wearing that suit, or could gain access to it, we should move in with caution and take him down quick and neat. No need to put anyone or anything in danger just because you prefer to get into a fist fight."

"I see." She bowed her head, "Richard too believes in such tactics."

"For the same reasons I do, I'm sure. It's about saving lives and making the world a better place, Star. Not about vendetta and rage."

"For me, this is about vendetta."

"They you'll have to be more professional than that." Speedy was firm, "Come on, Kori. You've been doing this for how long? You know how the Titans operate."

She nodded, "Very well. We shall do it your way. You will be there to back me up?"

"I'll be right behind you." Speedy stepped forward and gave her a light shove, moving her through the air in the direction of Red-X's penthouse, "Now go knock 'em out, Tiger."

Starfire giggled and flew off in a silent and stealthy manner. Speedy lost his grin and drew an arrow with a rope attached. Firing it after her, he tested the line, then swung across.

* * *

The man who had fled the garage Troia and Jinx and cleared out burst through a door in the back of the club C.T. Roller and his gang hung out in. Ten members of the East End Rollers were lounging about with several girls and C.T. himself as the chop shop worker stumbled in shouting, "Five-Oh! Five-Oh bitches!"

"Henry, you better calm the fuck down and tell me what you're talkin' about." C.T. said, walking over to him, "What the fuck is up?"

"The shop just got knocked over! They fucked everyone but me up! I barely got away!"

"Who? Bay Street? Cops?"

"Naw man!" Henry's eyes were wide and he looked frightened, "Capes!"

"Titans?" C.T. was suddenly all business.

"One of 'em was that new sparkly chick with the black hair, but the other one… I don't know who the fuck she was! She was breakin' bones and beating us like it was no bodies business!"

"Alright." C.T. stood up straight and shouted, "Hey ya'll! Get'cha straps out and-"

He never got to finish though, because at that exact moment, the wall exploded in with a burst of pink energy. The dark form of Troia flew in through the rubble and yanked C.T up off his feet, shaking him once, "We thought you were in bed with Slade, C.T. We just didn't know how to prove it."

"You!" he shouted, "That Harper bitch!"

"Like I would use my real name…" Troia rolled her eyes, "Call me Troia. Now explain yourself, or I let Jinx down there beat up every last man you have in here." C.T. looked down and saw Jinx with two men already on the ground, her foot planted on one of their backs.

Looking back up at Troia, he stuttered out, "I don't know nothin' about Slade! I've been keeping in touch with some guy called himself Mister Wilson, but other than him, I-"

"That _is_ Slade you moron." Donna shook him again, "And he's playing you. He's the one who set you up and killed the Bay Street Bangers guy."

"No way! Mr. Wilson's been keeping the Banger's off of us! He's been feeding 'em misinformation and keeping our assets secure!"

"And what do you do for him?"

"We boost the cars he wants us to boost, and we sometimes pull a hit for him! Never any Bangers though!"

"Right. He's manipulating you. Stop talking to him."

"Whatever! Just get out of here! We aint done nothin' you can take us in for!"

"That's true." Donna dropped him the seven feet to the ground and he stumbled as he hit. She floated down to him, "Keep your nose clean. Come on, Jinx." And she walked away. Jinx glared around the room at everyone with glowing pink eyes, then turned and followed.

* * *

Across the street, on a rooftop, the Ravager spoke into a com device, "Just like you thought they would, Daddy. We can move on to the next phase."

The reply was silky smooth, _"Good. Stay out of sight a little while longer, Rose. We don't need the Titans to realize what's going on until it's too late."_

* * *

Starfire walked into the penthouse living room of Gregory Holt and looked around. The lights were on, but he seemed to be nowhere, "Greg?" she called out.

"Kori?" he replied, walking in from a hallway off to the side, "Hey! What are you doing here?"

"I came by to see you." She blushed lightly, "I was growing despondent with my patrol and I have… missed you."

"Oh." He grinned a wicked grin, "You… _missed_ me, huh?"

She rolled her eyes, "I missed having sex with you, is that what you want me to say?"

"Yeah, that's about it." He grinned wider and walked over to her. He wrapped his arms around her neck and she wrapped hers about his waist. He spoke into her hair, "You want to head back to the bedroom so we can talk about how despondent you were?"

"Of course. Let us just… is there something the matter?"

Greg had gone stiff in her arms and pulled back a little ways. He stared down at her arm with squinted eyes and she let her gaze follow his. There, she saw her ornamental arm guard…

And in it, the reflection of Speedy, crouched on the balcony.

"You set me up!" Greg shouted, shoving her away from himself.

"No!" Star flew back as three arrows shattered though the French doors and flew into the room at Greg. The master thief dodged two of them and swatted the third out of the air. Speedy cursed as he jumped into the room, aiming another arrow as he did. Greg ducked that one as well when Speedy let fly, and shouted in alarm as the explosion it caused burst above his head.

Greg dove through a doorway and hit a button on the inside, causing a heavy steel door to slam shut behind him. Speedy fired and arrow at it, but did no damage, "Star!" he shouted, "Rip that thing open!"

Starfire looked conflicted for a moment, then hurled a starbolt at the door. When no damage was evident, she flew over and slammed her fists into the walls on either side of the doorway. Gripping the sides of the doorframe, she literally ripped it out of the wall with a scream of rage. Tossing it aside, she stepped into the dark room and glared about with glowing eyes, "Greg?"

"Call me Red-X, babe." He replied as he came sailing out of the darkness, suit in place. His foot slammed into her face and she topped backwards. As he charged out into the living room, Speedy let loose, firing twelve arrows in shuch rapid shots that Red-X had to duck and dodge like a mad man to not be hit. The living room of his home now in shambles, Red-X ran out to the balcony and jumped off, waving as he teleported away.

"Damnit!" Speedy shouted, and ran over to Starfire. She was picking herself up, shaking her head, "Are you okay, Kori?"

"I am fine. Come, we must give chase!"

"Can you carry me?"

"Of course. He will stick to rooftops."

"Good. Let's go." Starfire lifted Speedy up and flew off with him to try and locate Red-X.

* * *

It was almost midnight when Jinx and Troia walked into the pool hall the Amazon had started in with Roy when they were on their undercover assignment. What they saw made them pause.

"Um…" Troia looked around the hall, "You boys remember me?"

The men inside all looked up from where they were arming themselves with guns and knives and saw her. The one she had played pool with spoke up, "Yeah! You were here with that Roy kid! Best rack I've ever seen!"

Jinx looked at her, "He said that to you, and you didn't kill him?"

"I was undercover." Troia replied, "Where the hell are you guys going all geared up like that?"

"We just got word that the Bay Street Bangers are moving in tonight. They and the East End Rollers are gonna settle things once and for all."

"And this concerns you… how exactly?"

"We're with the Rollers." One of the men replied.

"Wait…" Jinx held up her hands, "Are you telling me that every gang in the East End is taking sides?"

"Pretty much." The man replied.

"Shit." Troia pulled out her T-Comp, "Troia to Cyborg."

* * *

"I'm here, Donna. Go ahead." Cy spoke into his arm as Beast Boy and Robin looked up to see what was going on.

_"We've got a situation down here in the East End. Gangs are choosing sides and the Rollers and Bangers are about to go head to head to find out who the proverbial king of the hill is."_

Cyborg looked over to Robin with a questioning glace even as the Boy Wonder flipped open his com and joined the call. Beast Boy did the same a half second later. Robin spoke, "If things are going to hell that quickly, then we need more presence in the East End as soon as possible. I'd bet my last dollar that Slade has a hand in this."

_"Like you're ever going to have a last dollar…"_ Troia rolled her eyes over the video connection.

"Can the jokes, Donna." Robin hit a few buttons and called up another connection, "Speedy? Were are you and Starfire?"

_"On a collision course with Jinx and Donna."_ Speedy replied a moment later, _"We're perusing Red-X across the rooftops, and he's headed straight for the East End."_

"Aren't you supposed to be looking for Slade?"

_"We got side tracked."_

Robin sighed, "Whatever. Red-X adds another dimension to this that we don't need right now. Follow him as well as you can, but when you get to the East End, we'll need you for more important things."

_"Got it. Speedy and Starfire out."_

Robin frowned and thought for a moment, then spoke, "Alright, here's the run down. I'm staying at the Tower to finish what research I can. Cyborg, call the cops in… this is going to be too big for just the Titans to handle. After that, get down there and rendezvous with Jinx. The two of you will try to get the Bay Street Bangers to back down, while Beast Boy and Troia try to keep the East End Rollers from making any preemptive strikes."

_"Hurry."_ Came Jinx's voice over the network wide call, _"We can see more and more gangs gathering here… there has to be at least fifty people just on this street."_

"Jesus…" Robin breathed, "It's going to be a riot. Let's move team." And he flipped his com shut even as Cyborg and Beast Boy were headed for the garage.

* * *

"Dare." Tara said, staring down Janice with steel in her cold blue eyes.

Janice grinned in a wicked way, "Kiss me."

"Hey!" Ami shouted and lunged across the circle of girls on as they sat on the floor of Becka's room. She talked her girlfriend and started to tickled her viciously, "What have I told you about hitting on other girls when I'm right here!"

"Fine!" Janice laughed, then shoved Ami off of her, "Get off, ya scally wag! Mah land, girl! Ya'll'd think Ah was askin' her ta go down on me or somethin'!"

"Tara still needs her dare, Love." Ginger pointed out.

"Fine." Janice reigned in her accent and sat back up as Ami resumed her seat between Becka and Hanna, "Kiss Becka then. She's the least lesbian of all of us, so that should be fun."

Becka rolled her eyes, "I swear, all your dares are about making other girls make out with each other. Come up with something more creative next time Ja- mmph!" Becka's eyes went wide and she almost fell over as Tara kissed her firmly on the lips. After a moment, she pulled back and grinned.

"Ha. My turn."

"Whoa." Becka shook her head, "She's a good kisser…"

The group of girls laughed for a few minutes, then settled down again as Tara pointed at Ginger, "Alright Miss Hammilton, truth or dare?"

Ginger arched an eyebrow, "Truth."

"Exactly how many men have you slept with?"

"Are we counting the guys from back in High School who were certainly _not_ men?"

"Yep."  
"Twelve."

Everyone gaped at her for a second, then Hanna spoke up, "Holy shit, Ginger. You're only eighteen!"

"And? I happen to like sex. It's a great stress reliever."

"Whatever." Ami waved a hand, "It's your turn."

"I think I'm going to call it." Ginger grinned, "We've already seen Tara kiss Becka, Hanna sing the Ode To Joy, Janice stand on her head for five minutes, and we heard Becka's litany of embarrassing nudity moments. What else is there?"

"Ice cream?" Hanna looked hopeful.

"Down in the kitchen." Becka stood up, "Come one everyone. If we don't get some mint-chocolate-chip in this girl, she's liable to go hormone witch on us."

"Sweet." As all the girls stood up, Tara heard a familiar bleeping. She walked to her bag of stuff and pulled out her T-Comp. Flipping it open, she was surprised to see Beast Boy staring back at her, "Hey, B. What's up?"

_"Is Hanna right there? She's not answering her cell."_

Hanna stepped over and looked down at Beast Boy from next to Tara, "I forgot it at my apartment. What's up? You look worried."

_"I'm a little nervous. There's some majorly bad stuff going down in the East End tonight… I just wanted to call and say I love you."_

Hanna clutched Tara's arm so hard the other girl hissed in pain, "Oh God… you're going to be jumping in front of bullets again, aren't you? Gar… Jesus don't go, I-"

_"Hanna, I'll be fine… just… you know… in case."_ He looked away.

"Gar…" Tara smiled down at him over the vid link, "Be really careful, okay? Leave all the really dangerous stuff to the other Titans… just for tonight?"

_"I'll do my best."_ Beast Boy looked serious_, "But I'm still going to do my job. Tell everyone I said hi, and for the love of God, stay out there at Becka's house until we call and say it's okay to come back to the city."_

"We will." Hanna let a tear drip down her cheek, "You come back alive, okay?"

_"I promise."_ He nodded, _"I have to go."_

"Alright. Tara out." And the blonde flipped her com shut. "What a moron. Calling to say he loves you 'just in case' then telling us not to worry."

Hanna sniffed once, then nodded, "Now I really need that ice cream."

"Then come on." Tara guided her to the door that the other four girls had already left through, "Let's feed that kid something tasty!"

Hanna giggled.

* * *

Jinx jumped to the street from the single story building she'd been on top of and ran down to the corner. As soon as she stopped, the T-Car cam skidding to a stop right in front of her. She barely paused before jerking open the passenger side door and jumping in.

As she buckled up, Cyborg looked over at her, "You doin' okay?"

"I'm fine." She smiled at him, "All in a nights work, right?"

"Yeah, sure." Looking back to the road, Cy cleared his throat, "Hey, um… what're you doing tomorrow night?"

"Most likely beating up gang bangers if this doesn't clear up tonight."

"Right." He frowned, "So then… next night we have free… you wanna… you know… do something?"

"Victor Stone, you walking soda machine! Are you asking me out on a date?"

"Uh… yeah." He blushed lightly.

Jinx giggled, "Well, how can I pass up such a smooth approach? What did you have in mind?"

"Dinner somewhere? Maybe take a drive through the hills…"

"You just want to get me all alone so you can do depraved things to me, don't you?"

"Wha-" he did a doubled take.

Jinx blinked at him innocently, "What? I didn't say I would _mind_…"

Cy almost swerved off the road.

* * *

Beast Boy shook his head while Troia stood next to him and scowled, "You're not listening, dude!" he spoke to C.T. Roller while waving his hands emphatically. "The Bangers are only coming down here because Slade tricked them into it!"

"How do I know you're tellin' the truth, little man?"

"Why would we lie to you? The Titans keep people alive, C.T., we don't get them killed! And if you ever call me little man again, I'm going to break your jaw."

"Nice, Gar." Troia rolled her eyes, "Look, we just want your guys to hold position is all. No sense sending them into the grinder just because you heard some rumors. The Bangers wont attack if we can help it, and if you'll hold off on trying to attack first, then we can avoid blood shed altogether." She spread her hands out in a pleading gesture, "Give peace a chance."

C.T. eyed them for a moment, and finally nodded, he opened his mouth to say something, but at that exact moment, there was a shout from outside the garage they were standing in attached to the night club he and his gang hung out at. They all turned to see a Roller member stagger in, weighed down by one of his fellow gang bangers. He quickly carried the young man in and set him down on the ground, "I need help!" he shouted.

Both Titans rushed over, C.T. close on their heals. As they made it up to the body, C.T. swore loudly, "Damn! That's Island Jimmy! What the… who cut him up like that?"

"It was Bangers!" the young man who'd brought him in replied, "They knocked me down and when I came to, he was like this!"

Beast Boy turned to Troia and shook his head, "Precision cuts from an extremely sharp blade."

"Ravager." She nodded, "Slade is setting this up."

"Slade nothin'!" C.T. stood up, "Get everyone together! I mean everyone! We're takin' those sick fucks out tonight!" and he yanked a gun out of his waist band, "Let's roll!"

As he stalked away, the young gang member who'd carried Island Jimmy in looked up at the Titans desperately, "Please! You have to help Jimmy!"

Troia looked down at him with sympathy, "Hon… we can't…"

"Why not?"

Beast Boy crouched down and shook his shoulder, making him look up, "Because he's already dead, man." He watched as the gang members face fell, then he began to cry. Shaking his head, Beast Boy stood up, "Go home. Stay inside, and protect your family. It's going to be an ugly night in the East End."

* * *

Two Bay Street Bangers were creeping along in the shadows, sneaking through the East End with guns drawn and killer intent written on their faces. As they snuck past a shadow in an ally, it spoke to them.

"Hey there." They both jumped and pointed their guns, but their eyes grew wide as a black clad figure with a white skull mask stepped out of the shadows. Red-X inspected their gang colors and cocked his head to the side, "Kind of a bad time for Bay Street boys to be showing colors on Roller turf, isn't it?"

"Who the fuck are-"

"Name's Red-X. I was actually looking for C.T. Roller. He owes me a favor and I was going to collect tonight… you weren't planning on killing him were you?"

"Fuck yes!" one of the men shouted, "Rollers fuckin' killed another one of our boys! Cut him up again!"

Red-X sighed, and shook his head, "Are you guys crazy or stupid? Look, this whole thing is being manipulated by some outside player. Nobody ever sees these mysterious deaths happen, do they? They just find the bodies. Are you really going to go down to that club and get your asses killed just because you think you might know who killed your friend?"

"Uh…" the two men looked at each other.

Red-X motioned with one hand, "Alright, take me to Bret Colmmer. He's still in charge of the Bangers, right?"

"Uh… yeah… what you want with Bret?"

"To talk some sense into him. I may be a thief, but I'm no fan of this kind of crime. Any way I can keep you guys from killing each other would be great."

"Alright…" one of the men nodded, "I got a new baby to think about, you know, and-"

He was cut off as a knife flew out of the darkness and slammed into his shoulder. He cried out and fell over, his friend ducking with him. From the shadows behind Red-X, Ravager charged out and swung one of her swords down at the two men.

Teleporting in front of her suddenly, Red-X held up two X-shaped arm blades and blocked her killing strike. She backed up a few paces and drew her other sword. "Ah… the feared Red-X wants to fight, does he?"

"I don't know who the hell you are, toots, but you'd better-"

"Ravager…" a silky smooth voice echoed out of the shadows of the ally, "Leave him to me." And Slade stepped out of the ally from behind his daughter.

"Of course, Daddy." And Ravager stepped aside. As soon as she was out of the way, Red-X sprang forward, making a preemptive strike against Slade. The master assassin simply side stepped him and kicked him into a the wall of the building they were next to. The two Bay Street boys stood up and started to run.

"Make sure they don't escape, Rose." Slade said as Red-X picked himself up.

"Yes, Daddy." Ravager grinned and dashed after the men.

"Now, let's see if you deserve to wear a suit one of my apprentices created…" Slade held out a hand, "Come."

"What ever you say, buddy." And Red-X held out a hand, shooting an adhesive X at his opponent. Slade ducked to the side and drew out his staff, which extended with a click. Before he could charge the young man in the powered suit however, a particle detonation exploded in front of him. Both combatants sprang apart as Speedy landed between them.

Backing up quickly, the archer stood next to Red-X and aimed an arrow at Slade, "So, Greg… you want a little help?"

"I thought you were going to arrest me."

"Later. Right now, we need to keep Slade from tricking half the East End into killing each other."

Red-X looked at Speedy for a second, then back at Slade, "Fine."

Speedy grinned, "Alright then!" and he fired his arrow. Slade swatted it aside with his staff, and barely got it back around in time to block Red-X's flying kick.

* * *

Ravager laughed as she raised a sword above her head. The two men were slowing down, the one because he was bleeding heavily, and the other because he was helping his friend. She's already caught them once and taken their guns away, and this was going to be the killing blow…

The wind was knocked out of her as a strong armed alien princess suddenly swooped down from the sky. Starfire lifted Ravager off the ground, spun around and hurled her with a warriors shout at the nearest building.

Ravager flipped around in mid-air, and landed on her feet against the building side, grunting as the impact buckled the brick under her feet, "Heh." She grinned and launched herself off of it, right back at Star. She screamed out a battle cry of her own as she came down at the Tamaranian with both swords.

Starfire grit her teeth and darted in, catching both of Ravager's wrists and stopping her swords from slicing into anything. The white haired young woman simply grinned, "Knew you'd do that." She said as she swung her feet down and slammed them into Starfire's gut. The alien girl doubled over in pain as Ravager yanked one of her hands out of the grip they were in, and slammed the hilt of her sword into Star's head, dazing the red head and knocking them both from the sky.

The gang members were long gone by the time the two girls hit the ground. Ravager quickly rolled away and came up with both swords brandished. Star drew herself to her feet and charged starbolts on both hand.

"I believe you have yet to answer for damaging my boyfriend, and then stabbing one of my girlfriends." Starfire growled, red and orange energy licking at her sides and flowing down her fiery hair.

Ravager grinned, "And you need to die based solely on how damn annoying you are. Ha!" and she charged.

Starfire grit her teeth and let loose an energy blast right into the street in front of her.

* * *

Cyborg had parked the T-Car across the middle of the street and he and Jinx were standing in front of it, and a mob of at least fifty Bay Street Bangers. The pink haired girl was waving her arms, "Can't you see you're making a mistake?" she shouted.

"Screw you, bitch!" one of the gang members shouted back.

Cy bellowed out at them, "Come on, ya'll! You're being manipulated!"

"Screw you too, bitch!"

Behind the two heroes, an explosion blossomed up into the night sky. It was green, tinged with red and orange. Jinx blinked over at Cy, "Um… was that…?"

"Starfire. If she's using that kind of fire power…"

"We have to go." Jinx looked back to the gang members, who were all shifting uneasily now, "Go home. This is going to be a metehuman conflict, and you don't want to be in the middle of it." With that, she and Cyborg jumped back into the T-Car and peeled out down the street.

One of the men near the front of the mob looked to another man, and asked, "What'd ya think, Bret?"

Bret Colmmer shook his head, "We don't want to be in the middle of that. Come on… we'll go around it down Cherry Street, then up to Sycamore Street. From there it's a straight shot right into the Roller's turf."

* * *

Robin sat a file aside and rubbed his eyes. As he reached for another his com started bleeping. Pulling it out, he flipped it open and spoke, "Robin here."

_"Hey."_ It was Beast Boy, _"We just saw a pretty big bang tearing up the streets over on Vine. We think it might be Starfire."_

"She used a lot of power last time she fought Red-X. She could be doing it again."

_"She's not answering her com, and neither is Speedy. Donna and I are going to investigate… we're not getting anywhere with the Rollers."_

"Police are on their way to try and stop any gang violence, so be prepared to break off and assist if you're needed." Robin tossed aside another file, "I'm going to head out there in a few minutes myself."

_"Done with the research?"_

"I think I've got all the info I need." Robin stood up, "I'll see you in a few-" he was cut off as another call came in. Arching an eyebrow he answered it and opened the communication to Beast Boy as well, "Go ahead, Speedy."

_"Robi-_**zzzkk****kkzz**_-amn thing… T-Comp got hit by a stray shot. We're getting killed out here, man, where are you?"_

"Roy? Who? What's going on?"

_"Red-_**kzzztt**_… are fight-_**kzzt**_… -ade! Repeat, we're _**zzzk**_-ighting Slade!"_

Robin almost dropped his com, "Damnit! Gar, get down there ASAP!" he flipped his T-Comp shut and shouted, "Raven!" turning around, he stalked to the middle of the main room, "RAVEN!"

A swirl of black energy appeared next to him and the hooded young woman materialized, "You couldn't have used your com?"

"Damnit, not now! Slade's made his appearance and he's going to _kill_ Roy unless you get me down there, _now!_"

Raven's eyes flared white and a note of panic entered her voice, "Hold on. This is going to be cold." And she swept her cloak up and around both of them.

* * *

Ravager hurled herself through the smoke and dust covered street and slashed down with a sword, grinning as she felt it make contact with flesh.

"Ah!" Starfire stumbled away from her and lashed out with another blast, blowing all the glass out of a nearby car, but missing her target as Ravager danced away once again.

"Can't hit me!" the psychotic young woman sang, and dashed in again.

Starfire reached to her side and grabbed a mail box. Yanking it up off the ground, breaking the bolts that were holding it down, she swung it around and swatted Ravager to the side. Rolling out of the fall, Rose was back up in a heart beat. "Ouch." She grinned.

Starfire screamed and flew at her with a burst of energy. Ravager jumped straight up and planted a hand on Star's shoulder as the alien flew under her, "Shouldn't loose your temper in a fight like this, Kori." She said with a manic smile, and stabbed one of her swords straight down into Starfire's back.

Star screamed in pain and lost control, falling to the ground and plowing across the pavement until the nearest building stopped her momentum. She moaned and reached up to her right shoulder, feeling the point of the sword protruding there.

Ravager hefted he other sword and prepared to charge, but stopped and looked up at the last second. Frowning, she dashed into the nearest ally and vanished into the darkness.

A moment later, a green bird swooped down and became Beast Boy. He ran over to Starfire, shouting, "Kori! Hey, are you okay?"

Troia descended a moment later and looked around, "Did you see where Ravager went? I spotted her running off when I was coming in, but I didn't see where she escaped to!"

"Forget her for now! You need to get Star back to the Tower… it's the only place in the city with the tech to treat her race. I'll head down the street and see if I can't find Roy."

"Alright."Troia reached down and scooped up Star, who moaned softly. "I know it hurts, Kori, but hold on for a little while…" and she was in the air and gone a moment later.

Beast Boy swallowed hard, then became a cheetah and dashed off down the street.

* * *

Speedy slammed into a wall and coughed up blood as he slumped to the ground. "Ow… oh… ow. That was a good kick…"

"Thank you, Speedy." Slade swung his staff down at Red-X, who blocked it with both of his arm blades, then started stabbing at the villain repeatedly. Slade blocked and dodged all of his strikes.

"Come on, Speedy! I need fire support!" the thief shouted.

Speedy weakly lifted his bow and pulled out a regular arrow. Aiming the sharp arrowhead at Slade's face, he let it fly.

The aim was good, but Slade was better. He spun about with his staff, knocking Red-X back and catching the arrow with his free hand all in the same fluid motion. As Red-X came back in at him, Slade twirled the arrow around and stabbed it behind himself, right into the thief's chest.

Speedy's eyes went wide, "You… bastard!" he climbed to his feet, "I'll-"

Slade yanked the arrow out of Red-X and spun around again, throwing it like a dart at Speedy. It hit him in the left bicep, the arm he lifted his bow with. Wincing, Speedy dropped his weapon.

As Slade reached up and grasped the hilt of the sword he had strapped across his back, Raven and Robin materialized next to Speedy. Robin's eyes darted around the battlefield and he felt them go wide behind his mask.

Being trained in combat for as long as he had been, and knowing his opponent as well as he did, Robin saw what Slade was going to do before he even started to move. With a lurch, the Boy Wonder started to dash towards his enemy with a shout, "No!"

Slade smiled under his mask as he drew his sword and spun around one last time, swinging it in a high arch. Robin drew a bird-a-rang and threw it, but it was too late.

Red-X's body slumped to the ground as Slade swatted Robin's weapon aside with his sword. The mast thief's head landed next to his body a moment later.

Robin screamed out something unintelligible as he flew at Slade with a kick. The assassin blocked it and knocked him away, then jogged back a few feet and tossed something at Robin, "We'll see each other soon, Robin."

"Don't you dare run, Deathstroke!" Robin caught the grenade Slade had tossed at him, pulled out a grappler and stuck it on the end. Pointing it straight up, he fired it off and the five second fuse of the explosive detonated it some seventy feet above the ground.

By the time Robin was able to let go of the grappler, Slade was already gone.

As Robin stood there, fury making his limbs tremble, staring at the corpse of an adversary turned ally, the T-Car tore around the corner up the street and sped up to him. As it screeched to a halt and Cyborg and Jinx jumped out, Beast Boy came running in and became himself as he made it up next to Robin.

"Holy shit dude… is that…?"

"Red-X." Robin replied, and looked up at the night sky, "Slade just killed him."

"No way…" Cyborg shook his head, "This can't be happening…"

Raven and Speedy walked up to join the gathering a moment later, the dark girl already healing her boyfriend's wounds. Robin looked up at Beast Boy, "Where are Donna and Kori?"

"Ravager stabbed Star. Donna took her back to the Tower."

If it was possible, Robin grew even more angry, "We have to stop this… Slade had to be brought down once and for all. He-" his bleeping T-Comp cut him off. Yanking it out and flipping it open he snapped, "What, Donna?"

_"What's got you so pissy?"_

"Slade just murdered Red-X. What do you want?"

Troia frowned over the connection at him, _"The City Status report just brought up about fifty 9-1-1 calls. The Bay Street Bangers just launched a massive coordinated attack on the East End Rollers." _

Robin closed his eyes and seemed to drift a little as she continued, _"This is getting ugly, Dick. I'm finishing up with Star here at the Tower, then I'm coming back out. Where do you want me to meet you?" _

Robin didn't say anything. He just lifted his face up to the sky, and winced when a drop of rain hit his nose. Everything was falling apart… Slade was back and killing people, the city was about to tear its self apart, and he was keeping huge secrets from his team. Nothing was going right. It was all just crashing down on him.

"Robin?" a voice seemed to be coming to him from far away. "Robin, listen… focus…" Was that Raven? Was she still mad at him?

"Richard." His eyes snapped open and he saw the violet orbs of Raven staring at him gently, "Focus. I know how you feel… but you can't fall apart right now. The Titans need you."

He nodded slowly, "I'm sorry I kissed you."

She nodded as well, "It's okay. It didn't mean anything."

Speedy gaped at them, "He kissed you?"

"Later, Roy." Raven shook her head.

"She's right." Robin swallowed hard, "This night is going to hell in a hand basket, team. Nothing's going right. Everything is falling apart. And just like always, we're the only one's standing in the way a lot of very bad things." He lowered his eyes to the ground and spoke softly, "There's been a lot of secrets between us for a while now… after tonight is over with, we'll get them all out in the open, I promise."

Looking up once again, he flipped through a few screens on his T-Comp, suddenly all business, "Cyborg and Raven, you two are with me. We're going to head north and see if we can't stop some of the fighting there. Jinx, Beast Boy and Speedy, you head up Sycamore Street from the west and see if you can't flank the Bay Street Bangers and stop them from behind. Troia will meet up with you when she can. Beast Boy," Robin turned to him with a small smile, "You're in charge."

"Hey, Dick…" Robin looked up and saw Speedy right in front of him. He sighed and braced himself as the arched slugged him in the gut.

"Ow…"

"That was for kissing my girlfriend." Speedy straightened the Boy Wonder up, "Now let's get this show on the road." He said with a grin.

"Right." Robin rasped out as he put a hand on Cyborg's shoulder to support himself. He frowned down at the body lying in the street and shook his head, "I'm sorry we can't stay with you, X. Titans," Robin shouted, straightening up, "Go!"

* * *

Closing Notes - Next Chapter out within a month or two. Review! 


	10. The Battle For Jump City Part I

Ties That Bind

A Teen Titans Fan Fiction by Jacob McDonald

Opening Notes: Long delay again, but this chapter is worth it. I've had a lot of trouble writing lately… I'm just not as inspired as I used to be. I'm still going to finish this thing, and hopefully as many of the rest of my stories as I can, but until I get over this stupid writers block, it's going to be slow going. Sorry. But you know what helps? Reviews help. I love getting reviews. It seems like I'm writing this thing for just five or six people lately, and that really sucks. I know a lot of people read it. It's on twenty-four alert lists. Add to that the one-hundred-nineteen people who have me on author alert, and I should be getting more than just eight reviews per chapter! Come one folks! Tell me how I'm doing here!

Favorite Review from last time – From SithKnight-Galen - _Man, so Slade took OUT Red-X like htat. Man, even I wasn't expecting that to take place quite that quickly or easily. Although, why is part of me thinking that this may not be the final Bell tolling for the 'porting tech thief just yet._

Did you hit the nail on the head, or are you way off the mark? Keep reading.

* * *

_**Chapter Eight – The Battle for Jump City – Part I**_

* * *

Beast Boy changed from hawk form to humanoid as he reached a rooftop over looking Sycamore Street, and crouched low as he pulled out his T-Comp. Looking down over the activity below, he quickly evaluated the best course of action. Young men sporting gang colors were ducking behind trashcans and popping out of ally ways to pop off shots from their fire arms at each other. Six men retreating down the street, and eight more advancing on them.

As a well fired shot splattered blood and gore across an apartment building's widows, Beast Boy mentally lowered the advancing numbers to seven.

Flipping open his com, he put out the call, "Okay, Speedy, Jinx… just like the last one. Speedy, you're on."

From behind the retreating gang bangers a glass tipped arrow soared out of the darkness. Beast Boy shut his eyes tight as it exploded between the two factions, sending off a burst of light so bright, all thirteen men in the street cried out in pain.

Counting to five, Beast Boy ticked off the number of seconds it would take for the phosphorous flare to die out, then opened his eyes and jumped off the building. He hit the ground as a Velociraptor, and charged at the nearest blind man, snapping the gun in his hands away with a bite and sweeping his tail around to take the man off his feet and hurling into another of his retreating companions.

Even as Beast Boy began to thrash the retreating Bay Street Bangers, a hail of arrows sailed over his head and exploded in front of the East End Rollers who were now firing randomly in the direction they thought their enemies were in. The particle detonations forced them to stop shooting and take a step back, and it was all the time Jinx needed to come charging out of an ally and begin to pummel them into the ground.

It was over in just thirty seconds. Thirteen men lay unconscious on the pavement, and one lay dead from the bullet he took to the head. Beast Boy morphed back into his humanoid form as Jinx walked back to him and Speedy jogged up the street behind them with a pronounced limp. BB turned back to the archer.

"You sure you're okay?"

Speedy was breathing hard, but he nodded anyway, "A couple of cracked ribs I can ignore… it's the ankle sprain that's getting to me." He shook his head, "Let's keep moving. We're coming up on the west flank of the Bangers now."

Jinx motioned to the corpse not far away, "It looks like the attacks not going so well. The Bangers are in retreat and the Rollers aren't doing so bad."

Beast Boy nodded, "I noticed that. It's falling apart into unorganized chaos out here… innocent people are going to get hurt."

"Agreed." Speedy looked grim, "We should move in and stop it _now_."

"I'll second that." Jinx nodded.

Beast Boy thought for a moment, then nodded again as well, "Alright. Robin didn't want us jumping the gun here, but I think we can dive right into the middle of this and-"

Gunfire erupted the next block over from them, and they all turned quickly. Beast Boy was in the air in a matter of seconds, and Jinx and Speedy were both jogging down the ally way that connected the two blocks. As they peered out into the next street, their eyes widened.

A large group of Hispanic men wearing yellow bandanas were firing MAC-10's, pistols, and other various small arms into a crowd of retreating Bay Street Boys. All of the invading gang went down in a grizzly display.

"Teach you to mess with the **Muerto**,_vatos_!" one of them shouted. The group of maybe fifteen men started moving down the street, whooping and singing in Spanish.

Speedy looked grim as Beast Boy dropped down next to him and Jinx huddled behind him, wincing every time one of the men popped of a round into the air. The red haired archer shook his head, "The Mexican gangs are getting involved. This is just the very fringe of their turf, but they're most likely looking for a reason to get in on the action. They want more territory, and taking it from the weakened Rollers is going to be easy."

"Crap." Beast Boy pulled out his T-Comp and hailed the Titans leader, "BB to Robin… we have a situation."

* * *

"I know." Robin spoke into a wireless device clipped to his ear that was transmitting back to his com, which was securely in a belt pouch, "Other factions are starting to get involved, right?"

_"Yeah."_ Beast Boy sounded worried, _"How'd you know?"_

"Oh…" Robin ducked a pipe and lashed out with a strong kick, taking a gang banger off his feet, "you know. A little bird told me."

Not far away, Cyborg was tossing a leather clad man through the air. A bullet bounced off his shoulder a moment later and he turned his sonic cannon on the man with the gun. Raven swooped down and lifted yet another man who was sneaking up on Robin off the ground and hurled him into a near by dumpster with her dark powers.

Robin nodded his thanks to her and punched his current assailant in the face, "We're fighting off the local branch of the Heaven's Devils biker gang. I'm guessing they want a piece of the drug trade up here."

Beast Boy replied, _"We just saw the Muertos take out a bunch of Bay Street Boys. The Bangers are getting butchered up here, man."_

"Damnit." Robin growled, "We're spread too thin." He punched a button on his headset and opened the call to the entire network, "Donna? Are you busy?"

A few moments later (in which Robin beat another biker into the ground) the dark haired beauty replied, _"I've got Starfire resting comfortably for now. She's healing remarkably quickly, but she'll still need time before she's field ready."_

"Good." Robin breathed a little easier as he punched the teeth out of a man's head, sending the poor sod reeling, "I need you to get to the City Status report and see if there's any unusual gang movement out there."

_"Will do. I'll call back when I have some information for you."_

"Thanks. Beast Boy?"

_"Yeah?"_

"Stop the Muertos if you can, then get down to the crunch. The main battle over there should be at the dance club on Sycamore."

_"We're moving out then. Stay in touch."_

"Roger that." Robin turned and saw Raven sweeping the last few bikers into a wall, "Everyone stay safe."

* * *

Beast Boy replaced his com in its pouch on his belt, "You heard the man. Let's move."

Jinx looked a little shaken, but she swallowed hard and managed to keep her voice from quivering, "How do you want to play this?"

Beast Boy thought about it, "They have too many guns. We'll need to take them out quickly."

Speedy pulled an arrow out of his quiver, "I've got one more flash bang left, or I could use a tear gas arrow."

"Use the gas." Beast Boy said, "Save the flash bang for later, in case we need it."

"It won't knock them out, but it'll make 'em puke up their dinner and leave them disoriented." Speedy nodded, "Will the two of you be able to take them out quickly enough?"

"As long as we can keep them from shooting each other and us?" Beast Boy shrugged, "Yeah, sure."

"Then let's move." Speedy replaced the flash bang arrow and pulled out the gas one. Jinx gulped once but nodded.

Beast Boy grinned a nervous grin, "Titans, go!"

* * *

Tara shoved a spoonful of chocolate ice cream in her mouth and made an orgasmic noise. Beside her, Hanna giggled.

The other girls were all seated at various points around the kitchen area of Becka's home. Janice, seated across the countertop form Hanna and Tara, blushed a little and nudged Ami, who was seated next to her, "She makes the sexiest little moans ever."

Ami grinned and shook her head, "No, actually. You do."

"Aw." Janice kissed her cheek with sticky lips, "Love you too."

Beacka wandered behind them and bonked each girl on the top of their heads, "You're not allowed to have sex in my kitchen."

"We're not having sex… we're having foreplay!" Ami shot a nasty grin at their friend.

Tara was blushing by now, "Do I really moan all cutely?"

Ami looked over at her, "Oh, diffidently. I bet you had a happy boy back in high school."

Tara sighed and put her spoon down, "I dated a guy named Mike for almost a year and a half." She looked down at her half melted bowl of frozen treat and frowned, "We broke up right after graduation."

"Why?" Hanna asked through a mouthful of vanilla soaked in every topping she could find.

Tara smiled at her eating habits, "He decided to go to collage on the East Coast. We didn't think long distance would work."

"Why not?" Becka took a seat at one end of the counter and sat a half pint of Rocky Road down in front of herself. She slid another half pint and a spoon the full length of the counter to Ginger, who was sitting at the other end.

Tara sat back on her stool and looked up at the pots and pans dangling from the rack over their heads, "Our relationship was fairly solid, but it was based on maintaining a healthy physical relationship."

"You mean you had to have sex every chance you got." Ginger supplied.

Tara grinned over at her, "Hell yes… it's a wonder I never got pregnant the number of times we didn't have any protection."

"So that was all your relationship was?" Becka asked.

"Not really... it's just how we always made up after a fight, or how we would spend our free time when we weren't with friends… after the sex, there really wasn't too much more for us to do. We never really had deep conversations or anything. We just liked each other, and felt… comfortable."

"I know the feeling." Hanna nudged her, "Too bad you missed out on Gar… he's the best guy ever… though we do have deep conversations every now and then…"

Tara sighed, "Yeah, yeah. You have Gar, Ami and Jan have each other, Ginger has any guy she wants ever…" Ginger chuckled and waved her consent to that statement, and Tara continued, "Hell, even Becka beat me to a man…"

Becka frowned, "What's that mean?"

Tara looked over at her, "Didn't Hanna tell you?"

Becka frowned deeper and glared at her best friend, "What didn't you tell me, Hanna?"

"Uh…" Hanna grinned a little, "Tara has a class with Chad and she kind of likes him… a lot."

Becka looked horrified for a moment, "What? But… Tara's way prettier than I am! He must be taking me out to dinner so he can tell me that… that… wait, why the hell would he want to take me out to dinner if he likes you?" she directed her question at Tara.

The blonde shrugged, "Dunno. I've been getting nothing but mixed singles from him. He acts like he likes me, then I notice he's being distant… like his mind is on something else. Or more specifically," Tara leaned forward and smiled at Becka, "some_one_ else…" She leaned back and waved a hand, "And you don't get to say you're not as pretty as I am… I'm thin, plain, and I have no boobs to speak of, while you have a body to die for and those big brown eyes. You have great eyes."

Janice spoke up, "You do. Even in the shower I only ever looked at your eyes." Ami shoved her with a grin.

"Oh." Becka sounded small, "Uh… thanks?"

"Not a problem." Tara sighed again, "I think I'm doomed to being single for the rest of my life."

Ginger snorted into her ice cream, "Tara, you're only eighteen. The rest of your life is a long time."

"Feh."

"Feh nothing." Ginger pointed at her, "Are you free Tuesday?"

"I have class in the morning and at night."

"Then you can be free."

"Uh…"

"I want you to come with me to my manager's offices… he runs an agency, but I can get you in for some special treatment."

"What are you talking about?" Tara arched an eyebrow. The other girls all looked at Ginger funny as well.

Ginger sighed, "I'm going to dress you up, have a professional stylist make you over, and you're going to do a photo shoot with me."

"What?" Tara laughed, "Ginger, I'm not a model."

The heiress sniffed, "Honey, I think I might know a little better than you. Trust me, you have the right build, the long hair, the big blue eyes, and you're kind of tall. With a little making up, you'll be perfect for the ad we're doing."

Tara was just staring at her, "You're serious aren't you?"

"Of course I am." Ginger reached for her side before remembering she didn't have her cell with her. Then she remembered her PA was laid up in the hospital, "Damn… I'll have to get a temp to fill in for Maggie…"

"Wait, wait…" Becka waved her hands, "I just want to know one little thing…"

"Yes, Rebecca?" Ginger was out of her seat and searching for a pad of paper and a pen.

"Why is it you've never extended this invite to any of us, and you're giving it to Tara after only knowing her for a day?"

Ginger stopped her hunt and turned on them with a sigh, "Please understand that I'm not of the opinion that any of you are ugly cows… you're just not built right. I can tell you what any agency would say." She pointed around the room, "Hanna's too short. Becka, while you do have a great body, you're hair is too kinky and your face is too round. Ami, you're too short and you have the build of a pre-teen boy. Janice…" Ginger trailed off and looked at her critically, "You could model. But only plus sizes."

Janice sputtered, "Plus sizes?" she waved at her flat stomach and curves, "I'm only a size eight!"

"You're too hippy." Ginger shook her head, "In the fashion world, size eight_is_ plus sizes… you're built more like a porn star."

Janice started to argue again, then stopped. She looked down at her own large breasts and smiled a little, "Hey, I am, aren't I?"

The rest of the girls groaned.

* * *

Robin looked down over the edge of a building and inspected the situation in the street below him. Two young men of Asian decent were cornering five gang members who were wearing Bay Street colors. The two Asian men had fully automatic guns trained on the group.

"We don't want no trouble, yeah?" one of them said with a thick accent, "We just want you to fuck off. We gonna take over this street… we want the Trade, you know?"

The Bangers all looked nervous, "That's cool!" one of them said, "Just let us walk, okay?"

"See, we can't, right?" the other Asian man spoke up, "The Triads need to set an example… we don't want no trouble from no one… so we leave a few bodies around, and the other fuckers, they get the hint, yeah?"

"No." Robin called down, and hurled an explosive disk at the two gun men. They turned and opened fire for all of two seconds before the explosion sent them flying. The five Bangers fled as Robin hit the street and called out, "Cy! Raven!"

Raven materialized a moment later and dumped Cyborg out of her soul-self. He staggered a little, but came up with his sonic cannon armed and ready. Blasting the guns away from the two men, he paused and watched Robin dart in and render them unconscious a moment later.

Cyborg frowned, "Why'd you do that? We need information."

"I already got it. The Triads are moving into this section of the East End. Apparently the Chinatown drug trade isn't enough for them anymore."

"Looks like their trying to take advantage of the chaos around here tonight too." Raven shook her head, "First the Mexican gangs, now the Chinese… do you anticipate any more players moving in?"

Robin nodded, "I'd be surprised if the Mafia didn't make at least some kind of move. I'm sure there's others out there too, but if we can preempt any attempts they make, we'll be able to nip at least one problem in the bud before this gang war spills into the rest of Jump." He shook his head, "I'll put Donna on it."

"What's the move then?" Cy asked as he finished securing the two Triads. Robin thought for a moment before replying,

"You and I are going to head further north and west, right towards Chinatown. We'll see if we can't convince the Triads to back off. I still don't feel comfortable with the whole Slade situation either though, so Raven, I want you to sweep the East Side. I'm sure he and Ravager are still around here somewhere."

The dark Titan nodded, "I'll be in touch." And she vanished.

Cyborg stepped up next to Robin, "Go time?"

"Go time." Robin replied, and the two of them took off to the north-west.

* * *

"Damnit!" Jinx ducked back behind the corner of the ally she was taking cover down, "Speedy, do something!"

He called back from atop a building where he was laying flat, avoiding just as much gun fire as his pink haired team mate, "I can't! They've got me pinned up here!"

"BB?" she called.

"I'm fine." He called back from across the street where he was ducked behind a car that looked like Swiss Cheese, "How'd they get the drop on us like this?"

"I sneezed." Speedy called back, "Sorry!"

"Great." Beast Boy muttered, he glanced around the car and saw that most of the Mexican gangsters were reloading. "Hit em!" he shouted.

Speedy growled as he rolled and came up as quickly as he could, firing three explosive arrows, followed by the tear gas bomb a moment later. The Muertos all cried out as the gas flowed around them, and started popping off shots at Speedy a moment later. Beast Boy left his cover in the form of a lion and prepared to charge even as Jinx ducked out into the street, staying as low as she could.

They both saw it at the same time. Three cars full of Rollers were tearing down the street, gunmen hanging out the windows. As they took aim and prepared to open fire, Beast Boy transformed back into himself and started shouting along with Jinx.

"Down!" he screamed, "Get down!"

Jinx added her voice, "Bangers behind you, _cazar tápa!_"

At Jinx's words most of the Muertos dropped to the street and covered their heads, but a few turned and opened fire on the East End Rollers as the cars screeched to a halt. The gangsters in the cars didn't seem to be too worried and started shooting as well. The few Muertos still standing were gunned down in a matter of seconds.

"Damnit!" Jinx screamed, "BB! Get back!" and she threw out her hands as her eyes flared pink.

"Uh oh." The green changeling back pealed and dove back behind his car as Jinx let loose her power. The street in front of the Rollers exploded into millions of shards of stone and flew at them like tiny bullets. Those hanging out the windows screamed in pain and ducked back in as the drivers hit the gas and tore out. Twenty seconds later, the only sounds on the street were hard breathing and low moaning.

Before anyone could do anything, a fireball erupted into the air down the street and over a block. Beast Boy jumped up and looked torn about what to do as Speedy descended to the street.

One of the Mexican gang bangers looked up at Jinx in awe, "You saved us, girl…"

"_Blanco chica_ got her some power, eh?" another commented as they started to stand.

Jinx frowned, "Don't call me 'white girl' again if you want to keep your teeth where they are."

"Fine, fine…" the Muertos man raised his hands and shook his head, "Sorry."

The Titans regrouped for a moment and huddled up. Beast Boy looked between his two team mates, "Options?"

Speedy spoke first, "Something is going on up the street a ways. We need to check it out."

"These guys have about had it for the night though… what do we do with them?" Jinx jerked a thumb over her shoulder at the Muertos.

Beast Boy thought for a moment, "Jinx, they seem to trust you most. Go ahead and make sure they get back to their homes and that they protect their little brothers and sisters and parents instead of running out here to get killed. Speedy, you and I will check out the explosion." The other two nodded, and he nodded back, "Let's go."

As the two boys took off running, Jinx turned back to the gang, "Alright boys. You're coming with me and we're going to get you back home safe and sound… you'll live a lot longer that way, yes?"

There were muttered agreements as the men all rallied around her. Jinx grinned, "Then let's get out of the street before they start shooting at us again."

* * *

Tara sat outside Becka's house on the second floor balcony overlooking the pool. She had wrapped a blanket around her shoulders to ward off the chill night air, at she lounged in one of the chairs Becka had told her she used for sun bathing.

The other girls were either asleep already, or almost there. Tara, being more of a night owl, had wandered off to be by herself and play with her communicator. She hadn't really sat down with it yet and figured out everything it could do.

She'd already figured out how to call any Titan on the network (instead of just Raven) and taught herself how to use it as a normal cell phone as well. She was just starting to get the hang of the location and tracking features when the device bleeped at her. She pushed the answer button and watched as a screen popped up.

_"Still awake?"_ It was Raven.

"Yeah. I don't normally sack out until almost 2:00… I've been trying to get the hang of the com."

Raven nodded and Tara could see the cityscape flying past in the background. She was obviously flying somewhere, _"Is everyone okay?"_

"Hanna's worried about BB." Tara frowned, "He called earlier to tell her that he loved her 'just in case.'"

_"That sounds like Gar."_ Raven rolled her eyes_, "He's right though. Things are getting out of hand out here. Starfire is already down for the count… stab wound clean through her shoulder… the rest of us are doing okay, except for Roy… he's been banged up a little. And Red-X is dead."_

Tara gasped, "Oh my God, Raven… what the hell is happening?"

"_A large scale gang war is erupting. Everyone is getting involved."_

"That's… really bad, isn't it?"

_"More than you know. Stay safe out there, Tara. I'll check in periodically to see how things are, but I want you to get some sleep soon. You had a long day."_

"I know. Thanks, Raven. We'll call if anything bad comes up."

_"You do that. Raven out."_ And the screen went blank.

Tara sighed and flipped the com shut, then open again, then shut again. She flipped it open one more time, and used the key pad to punch in an access code out of habit.

Then she stopped and realized that she didn't know any access codes, and didn't have any habits formed about the communicator. She stared down at the screen dumbly as it opened a file and connected to an outside network on an encrypted line anyway. "What the hell is… did I just remember that?"

The view screen blinked on a moment later and a dark man stared back at her. She heard a smile in his voice, and saw his one eye narrow dangerously as he spoke, _"Ah, Tara… I knew they'd given your communicator back, but I didn't think you'd actually remember the code to contact me with. How nice to see you again." _

Tara's blood ran cold and she swallowed hard, "Slade." she whispered with a tremble in her voice.

* * *

"This was a great idea, Robin." Cy winced as a bullet bounced off the wall next to his head. He took a moment to glance around the corner he was taking cover behind and then ducked back as several shots took chunks out of the brick.

"Shut up, Cy." Robin grumbled from the other side of the ally. He was taking cover behind a few wooden crates that were quickly disintegrating under a constant hail of bullets, and doing something with some of the contents of his utility belt. The ally they were at the entrance to was the front entry way to the Triad's home base in China town. Robin had decided they would knock on the front door and just ask nicely for the gang to not get involved in the war.

Apparently news of their take down of the two Triads back up on the East End had spread north quickly though, and the Chinese gangsters were ready for them when they arrived. Now Robin was pinned and Cyborg was helpless to do anything against the ten or so men at the other end of the ally with automatic assault weapons.

"Options?" the cybernetic Titan asked the leader.

"I'm working on it." Robin growled back, "Just let me… there we go." He held up the device he'd been tinkering with and waved Cy back, "This is going to make a pretty big bang. All concussive force, no shrapnel. It'll knock all of them out."

"You sure?"

"Eh… mostly." Robin shrugged and tossed the bomb over his shoulder. It landed and rolled a few dozen feet before stopping in front of the Triads. They stared at it for a moment before Robin pulled out a detonator, "Boom." He said and covered his own eyes.

Cy had the presence of mind to do the same as the explosion went off with a blinding flash.

* * *

Gunfire erupted underneath her again as Raven flew high over the rooftops of the East End. She paused only long enough to use her powers to yank the guns from the hands of the men using them and hurl them at high velocity towards the bay. She didn't know if they were making it all the way, but she did know when she really wanted to fling stuff, it could fly upwards of a mile before coming to the ground.

Turning her attention back to her search, Raven tried again to feel out any mental signatures she could identify. If she stretched her awareness out far enough she could start to feel her team mates, but still not her quarry. Frowning, she decided to switch gears and look for Slade instead.

When that turned up nothing, she frowned. Either he was using some kind of psychic dampener, or he wasn't in the East End. Flying higher, Raven looked out over the darkened buildings and frowned deeply. She whispered to the night,

"Where are you, Rose?"

* * *

Beast Boy dashed down the road as a horse, Speedy sitting astride his back. As he rode, the red haired archer used one hand and his teeth to tighten down a field dressing on his right arm. The arrow Slade had thrown at him earlier had penetrated deep into his bicep, and Raven hadn't been able to heal him all the way on such short notice. He growled low in his throat as more gunfire erupted not even a whole block away.

"Now what?" he shouted as he jumped from the green horses back. The equine beast became BB a moment later and skidded to a halt as Speedy landed next to him and stumbled until he found his footing. Hefting his bow, the archer looked up ahead, "Those are Bay Street colors."

"But who's shooting at 'em?" Beast Boy squinted at the fire fight. It didn't seem as if gun men taking cover behind several cars were sporting any identifying clothing. The two Titans dashed to the shadows and stayed low as they crept forward. When they got within hearing range, they listened to the men shouting to each other in a foreign language.

"Russian?" Beast Boy whispered to his friend.

"Odessa Mob." Speedy nodded, "Man, everyone wants a piece of this."

"Drug trade down here is prime." Beast Boy shook his head, "Not to mention the girls and the businesses… the Odessa could run a huge protection racket if they took control."

"They sure do have the fire power." Speedy muttered, looking at the assault weapons the Russians were fighting with.

"What's the move?" Beast Boy asked.

"Hey, Robbie put you in charge, Gar. He did that for a reason."

Beast Boy stared at his partner for a moment, then nodded with a worried expression on his face. "I can see what I can do about scattering the gang bangers up at the club… can you handle this?"

"I can blow this joint wide open." Speedy grinned and drew an arrow, "You'd be surprised what riding bareback for ten city blocks will do for your disposition."

"Dude, if you make a crack about how your junk was rubbing up on my back, I'm going to go carnivore for ten minutes and _eat_ you."

"Yeah, 'cause that didn't make you sound gay at_ all_…" Speedy jerked his head further up the street, "Fly, man. You don't have me to hold you back any more."  
Beast Boy nodded and prepared to take flight. He paused and looked over his shoulder, "Be careful Roy… don't get yourself killed."  
"You either." Speedy waved him off, "Go on."

Beast Boy nodded and became a crow. As he flapped away, Speedy turned to the gun battle and took aim with a glowing arrow head. He frowned in a grim way as he let fly and hit the gas tank of a nearby parked car.

The explosion tore across the street and made everyone take cover. As soon as they were distracted, Speedy rolled out into the open and started firing arrows with sharpened points, aiming for hands, legs and shoulders.

* * *

"Little Mexico is that way, right?" Jinx whispered to the Muerto man crouched next to her. The other seven young men who were with them huddled behind, all remaining silent at the Titan girl's insistence.

"Yeah." He pointed, "You did notice the dudes with the guns, right?"

Jinx rolled her eyes. They were hiding down an ally and looking on as a group of men with assault weapons patrolled the street ahead of them. She pulled out her com and opened a channel, "Hey, BB? You got a second?"

There was a pause, then Beast Boy replied, "Yeah…" he was breathing hard, what's up?"

"What have you been doing?"

"Running and flying. I'm almost to the club to try and stop the Rollers and the Bangers from killing each other any more."

"Great… you know anything about a bunch of guys strapped up like the fuckin' army?"

BB winced, "We ran into some of the Odessa earlier. It looks like the Russians want a piece too."

"Fuck me." Jinx actually winced, "Thanks, B. Watch your six, okay?"

"I'd really rather be watching yours." He winked.

"I'm telling Hanna." Jinx winked back, "Jinx out." And she flipped her com shut. Turing to the gang behind her, she whispered, "Good news is, we know who they are, and we know what they want. Bad news is, asking nicely for them to let us by probably wont work."

"So what do we do?" One of them asked, "We ain't got no more guns or shit…"

"We take their guns and shit, and we keep moving." Jinx looked back at the twelve men holding down the intersection they were near, "If we can come at them from this direction, quietly, we can get the drop on them and get at least enough firepower to make them fall back. Then we just slip by and call it a night."

"Uh… we don't do that crazy ninja shit you do, chica." The man crouched next to her who'd been acting as the gang leader whispered to her, "You might have to just use your powers or some shit and take 'em out quick."

"Alright… let me think…" Jinx looked back at the Russians, and her eyes grew wide.

One of them was staring right at them.

"Down!" she screamed and dove to the side. The Odessa mobster shouted something in Russian to his friends, and opened fire as several of them jogged over to help him. Bullets flew into the ally and there was a grunt and a thud behind Jinx as she shoved out a hand and lanced a blast of pink energy at the gunman. The action of his weapon jammed and a bullet backfired into his shoulder.

The pink haired Titan rose to her feet and dashed forward as more Odessa started over. She got in the middle of them and started lashing out with solid strikes, aiming to put them down as quickly as possible. The Muertos were retreating down the ally as the eleven remaining Russians crowded around Jinx.

They were smart enough not to start blowing off ammo when she was in so close. They didn't want to hit each other, and they knew that with twelve of them, she was going to loose the fight.

They hadn't counted on her powers or her level of skill though.

Jinx lashed out with a punch that shattered a jaw and sent a man to the ground at the same time she spun into a roundhouse kick that crushed another mobster's ribs and sent him flying. She finished her spin by using her momentum to crouch low and stick the toes of her boot into the side of a man's leg, snapping the knee like kindling.

As she stood up, she uppercut another Odessa, sending teeth, blood, and a bit of his tongue flying. He fell and was down for the count. Jinx shoved both hands out to her sides, and an explosion of energy blew the men around her away and to the ground.

The Mexican gang bangers didn't waste any time. They charged out of their ally and started beating the downed Russians until they stopped moving. Jinx, breathing hard, saw the end of the battle and shouted, "Okay! They're down! Cut it out!"

The Muertos all backed away from their downed opponents and milled about, the adrenalin from the fight still pumping in their veins. Jinx ran back to the ally and saw the man who'd been acting as leader holding one of his friends in his arms, whispering to him in Spanish. Jinx fell to her knees next to them and inspected the bullet wound the young man had taken to the chest. She watched him bleed out the last few seconds of his life, as she sat there, powerless to do anything.

"No…" the Muerto leader moaned, "Come on man… don't die like this…"

Jinx swallowed hard, "He's gone, Jose." She reached out and closed the young man's eyes.

Jose looked up at her, "He was only seventeen..."

"Fuck…" Jinx ran her hands up the boys face and pulled off the bandana he was wearing. Slowly, she reached up and pushed down her own solid pink hair until it was out of its points and falling loose about her face once more. Pulling it back, she used one of the bands that had been holding it up to tie it into a pony tail behind her head. Raising the bandana, she tied it firmly.

Standing up she turned and addressed the gang as they gathered around her, "I've got my colors, guys. From here on out, I'm acting as your leader. I'm a Muerto**."**

They all looked at each other for a moment, then nodded and gathered around her. Jose stood up and addressed her, "What now, chica?"

"Now, you start calling me Jinx. And we head back to Little Mexico, and we hold it. We hold it and we don't let any more scum like this," she walked to a Russian and kicked him, "invade our turf. After this thing is over, I'm out, but until then, I'm one of you. Let's get home and make sure no more of our friends and family die tonight."

There was a cheer among them as Jinx bent down and lifted PP-90M1 from the street. She checked the magazine and flipped the safety on. Using the strap to sling it over her back, she bent and pulled a 9mm side arm from one of the unconscious Odessa mobsters. Looking back to her gang, Jinx called out, "Strap up. We don't know what else we're going to be running into tonight, but we want to be ready."

As the Muertos started picking up weapons, Jinx fingered her bullet scars. "Hell of a way to get over your fear of guns, Jenny." She muttered, then moved on ahead of her gang to scout what was in store for them.

* * *

"What do you want with me?" Tara hissed as she glanced over her shoulder, making sure none of the other girls were coming out to the balcony.

_"What do _I_ want with _you_?"_ Slade asked, a hint of amusement in his voice, _"You're the one that contacted me, Tara."_

"I didn't know I was doing it! Is this how you used to talk to me when I was betraying the Titans? I won't do it again, Slade, you know I won't!"

_"Tara… you have no powers, no combat skill and no sense of how to implement a plan… what use would I have for someone so… useless?"_

"H-hey!" Tara stammered, "I am _so_ not useless!"

_"You are to me. When I bought you back, I knew you'd be a thorn in my side, so I wiped your memory and implanted a new one. It seems the wipe was more of a block, and that now you're remembering things."_

"I don't want to remember anything to do with you, you one eyed bastard!"

_"Tut tut, Tara. Language like that isn't very ladylike…"_

"Well since you programmed it into my head, maybe you should just suck it up and deal with it." Tara pouted. Then wondered why she was pouting.

_"Ah, the lip."_ Slade rolled his one eye, _"You would always do that to me when you wanted something I wouldn't let you have… like Beast Boy, for instance…"_

Tara's eyes grew wide, "No… I… I wouldn't have…"

_"You wanted him so badly."_ Slade sounded disappointed, _"I should have realized then that you were ill suited to be an apprentice of _mine_…"_

"You're a fuckin' psycho." Tara hissed, "Where are you? I'll show you how useless I am when I get there and beat your punk ass into the ground!"

_"Hmm… perhaps I have underestimated you. Your somewhat transparent ploy to get me to reveal my location so you could tell Robin was laughable… yet still admirable. It shows that you still have guts, Tara. You still have what it takes, even if you don't remember how to fight."_

Tara swallowed hard. In hindsight, it had been a rather easy to see plan, but still, she had to try. "So now what?" she huddled down lower into her blanket, "Am I supposed to just keep living like this… not know what your intentions towards me are?"

_"Tara… if you want your powers and your memory back… I'll give them to you."_Slade's eye narrowed, _"But you wont use them to stop me… you must give me your word that you will use them… as my apprentice."_

Tara swallowed hard and glanced over her shoulder once again, then turned back to her com. Could she…?

"Tell me where to be and I'll be there… tonight."

* * *

Troia typed furiously at the central computer terminal in the main room of Titans Tower, frowning at what she was seeing on the screen. She punched up a com window and listened for a response to her hail.

_"Yeah?"_ Robin sounded slightly breathless.

"You okay?"

_"I'm fine. Cy and I have the Triads neutralized for now." _

"Well, at least something is going to plan. I'm pulling up satellite images of the East End, and it's getting messy out there. The Odessa Mob is making a move from the North, and it looks like the Maffia is starting to muster thugs down by the docks. They'll be moving in any time now."

_"Christ… does everyone want a piece of this or what? Where's the team?"_

"Roy is holding the Russians to a standstill somehow… he's blowing a lot of stuff up. Beast Boy is just reaching the crunch in the middle of the East End… he's going to try and stop them by himself." She punched up a few more screens to get image locks from the JSA orbital satellite she was 'borrowing.' After a moment, she continued, "It looks like Jinx has the Muertos contained, but it also looks like she joined the gang. Oh, and she's armed to the teeth."

_"I'll deal with Jen. Where's Raven?"_

"Still looking for Ravager, it looks like… she's east of you near the industrial quarter."

There was a long pause, then the Boy Wonder spoke again in a quieter voice, _"How's Kori doing?"_

"She'll live… no permanent damage. The devices she brought from Tamaran really do heal her in a matter of minutes."

"Still," the alien girl's melodic voice came from the elevator as the doors opened and she floated into the room, "I will see no further action this night." Her shoulder was wrapped in bandages, and her arm was in a sling.

_"Kori?"_ came Robin's relieved voice, _"Thank God… how are you feeling?"_

"My shoulder hurts." She replied in a light tone, then got a good look at the screens Donna was pursuing, "X'ahl… what has happened to our city?"

"This gang war is spreading out of control." Troia stood up, "Dick? If Kori is up and around, she can man the computers here. Where do you want me?"

_"Intercept the Maffia thugs by the docks. Make sure they know it's a bad idea to start trouble in the East End tonight."_

"I'm on my way. What about you?"

_"I'm going to have Vic finish up here, then I'm going to see about Jenny. Star? Can you contact Raven and get an update from her? Then try the others and see if you can get any more information to disseminate as we need it."_

"I will do my best." Star flew to the computer terminal Troia had vacated and began to open com windows. She glanced over her shoulder and smiled at the Amazon woman as she flew to a window and let herself out. Troia saluted, then flew off into the night.

Star turned back to the com, "Be careful, Robin."

_"I'll be fine. You concentrate on running the information we need to win this thing."_

"Very well. Starfire out." She closed Robin's window and spoke to the next one she had open, "Starfire to Jinx. Come in Jennifer."

* * *

Jinx flipped open her com, "Hey Star. You doing okay?"

_"I am unable to fight any more this night, but I will be assisting from here at the Tower. What is your status?"_

"I'm leading the Muertos back into Little Mexico, and I'll be staying there until this is over… I figured having at least one section of the East End under direct Titan control couldn't hurt."

_"A good plan. Robin will by around shortly to work out the details with you."_ There was a pause, then she continued, _"Move one block south, then continue forward. There is roving band men wearing blue colors up ahead of you on your current course."_

"Rollers? This far east?" Jinx blinked, "That doesn't make any sense."

_"I am seeing quite a few of them actually."_ Star sounded distressed as well, _"Also, there are many bands of men wearing red."_

"That would be Bay Street. What's going on?"

_"They appear to be moving at random… perhaps separated from the larger group?"_

"That's dangerous. We'll keep to your directions for now, but if any of those guys wander into Little Mexico, I'm going to be hard pressed to keep my crew from popping 'em."

"Fuck yes." A nearby Muertos spit.

"Hey, you do what I tell you to do for now, eh _esse_?" Jinx scowled at him and he scowled back, but nodded anyway. She turned back to her com, "Any more surprises we need to worry about?"

_"I do not see any. You should make it to the Little Mexico with no further obstruction."_ Star smiled, _"Be brave, friend Jinx, and fight well."_

"Now that's an order I can get behind." The pink haired vixen grinned, "Jinx out."

* * *

Beast Boy didn't slow down as he made it to the crunch. Bullets were flying everywhere, and there were still at least twenty men on each side standing and shooting. Bodies littered the street in front of the club, and total chaos was the rule. The green Titan found himself wondering how many gang bangers had been shot by their friends accidentally.

Shifting forms from a hawk to a rhino, he dropped down behind a line of Bay Street Bangers and charged. They all shouted in alarm as he plowed past them, and several of them cried out in pain as he stomped their arms and legs. A few bullets hit him, but the rhino's tough skin kept him from getting anything more than a few bruises.

Shifting forms again, he became a small spider with a paralytic venom and bit the next Banger he came to. The man pumped off two more shot from his shotgun, then collapsed and started to shiver as the poison griped him. From there he became a squirrel and scampered across the street where he became a bull and quickly plowed down three Rollers before becoming a much smaller mongoose and dashing behind several more men where he became a snarling grisly and wapped them off their feet with his huge paws.

"It's the Beast Boy! Kill the Titan!" one of the Rollers shouted and pointed a gun at him. Eight other men turned to him and took aim as well.

The green bear growled loudly, and the growl became a deafening roar as BB expanded his form and became a T-Rex.

The gang bangers screamed and started to run as the gigantic dinosaur chased them down.

* * *

Raven pulled out her T-Comp as she landed on a building top. It buzzed once in her hand, and she confirmed someone was calling her. Flipping it open, she saw Starfire staring back at her, "You're doing okay?" the dark Titan asked her friend.

_"Yes. Thank you for your concern. Robin wishes for me to gather information. Do you have anything to report?"_

"Nothing. I can't find Rose anywhere." Raven frowned, "I've been stopping violence when I can, but I'm getting no where searching like this."

_"That is most distressing."_ Star frowned as well, _"I will contact you again after I have spoken to Robin and tell you if he would like to change your duties for this night."_

"Thanks. I'll keep looking in the mean time…" Raven paused, and started to say something, then stopped. She shook her head.

_"Raven?"_ Star looked concerned, _"Please, if you have any information that may help us to win this fight-"_

"I kissed Dick." Raven blurted.

Star stared at her,_"I… I see… when?"_

"A few days ago." Raven couldn't stop the words coming now, "We'd been fighting so much, and we made up, and we hugged, and it just happened. It didn't mean anything, but I felt things I shouldn't have felt for anyone but Roy, and I'm sorry Kori, but I liked it and I… I… I'm so sorry. I feel terrible and I know you'll never forgive me, but please Kori… please try to, because I don't know what I would do without you… you're one of my closest friends, and you've always been like a sister to me-"

_"Raven!"_ Starfire laughed over the connection, _"Please! Calm yourself!"_

Raven, breathing hard, nodded and swallowed hard.

_"Friend, I would dearly like to be angry with you, but I cannot. I have not been… as faithful to Richard as I should have been, so I cannot be to mad."_

"Wha-" Raven started to ask as her brows furrowed, but Star cut her off.

_"A story for another time. For now, let us just agree that we are still teenagers, and that these things will happen. Does Roy know?"_

"Yes." Raven nodded miserably.

_"I am sorry if he is angry with you."_

"He was more mad at Dick. He punched him."

_"Hmm… as boys are wont to do, I suppose."_

"Yeah…" Raven's voice was weak.

_"Raven, you worry about this far too much. Do not feel I am angry with you. Truly, I am not."_

"Okay, Star. Thanks."

_"Of course."_

Raven was about to say something else when she got another call, this one private. She arched an eyebrow, "Tara's calling, Star. I'll call you back if I find anything."

_"Very well."_ Starfire nodded, _"I will contact Roy soon and send along your love."_

"Thanks. Later." Raven switched calls and spoke to Tara, "What's up?"

Tara was moving through somewhere dark, not looking at her com, _"I'm headed in to town."_

"What?" Raven's eyes went wide, "Tara, what the hell are you talking about?"

_"I accidentally called Slade… I don't know how, but my T-Comp is still wired into his communication bands for some reason… he wants to see me, so I'm coming in to town to meet him."_

"Tara… this is a really bad idea. I want you to stay out there and-"

_"He told me he can give me my memories and my powers back."_ Tara looked at the com and Raven saw how stressed out she looked.

"Tara, Slade is a master manipulator and planer… he's lying to you. You know he is."

_"Yeah, but if I can guarantee he'll be in one spot, you guys can come down on him like a ton of bricks!"  
_"We're spread kind of thin out here, Tara!" Raven was almost shouting, "The only ones who could possibly be there are myself and Robin, and that's not enough when we're talking about Slade!"

_"Raven…" _Tara looked stressed, but determined, _"I have to do this."_

Raven sighed, "Very well, I'll call Robin and tell him. Where are we meeting you?"

_"He told me to meet him at 4251 South 20__th__ Street. I MapQuested it."_ Tara paused, and Raven heard a jangling of keys.

"Wait a second… how are you getting here?"

_"I'm going to, uh… borrow Becka's Jeep." _

"Tara…."

_"What? If anything happens, we can just take it out of the Titan's funds or something, right?"_

"We could, but you're not a Titan! I still think this is a bad idea."

"_Then meet me somewhere and stay with me until I have to go in by myself."_

"I think I will." Raven nodded, "Stay safe, Tara. I'll see you soon."

_"Okay, Tara out."_ And the connection died. Raven punched up yet another window and spoke sharply.

"Raven to Robin. We have a situation."

* * *

Speedy sighed as more bullets tore into the wall he was hiding behind. Not much was left of the brick, and he was almost out of arrows.

"This is getting fucking ridiculous…" he muttered. He'd already incapacitated at least a dozen men, and there were still more showing up at the scene by the minute. There had to be at least fifteen of them wandering about the section of condemned buildings he'd led them to, and he was running out of places to hide.

The Titans had several secure lockers around the city full of extra equipment. Speedy found himself thanking Robin silently for his forethought in installing them, and for taking the time a few months back to put a fully loaded quiver for him in each one. He just needed the location of the nearest locker, and he could get back to kicking ass after he was geared up.

He pulled out his T-Comp and flipped it open. Punching up a window, he spoke in an exhausted tone, "Speedy to Titans Tower. You there, Donna?"

_"I am sorry, Speedy, but Donna has been called into the city to assist with this nights efforts. Is there any way I may be of assistance?"_ Speedy stared at Starfire as he image popped up on his screen.

"Um… you're doing okay?"

_"My wound is healed, but sore. I will not be able to fight again for a day at least." _

"That's good to hear… um, look… Star…"

_"I know you are still angry with me… please, I plan to tell Richard everything when this battle for the East End is over."_

"Okay, that's good, but…" he trailed off, then sighed, "Hey, is there a spare gear cache somewhere around my location? I'm running out of arrows, and I need to reload."

Star's hands flew across the keyboard and she frowned in concentration. After a moment, she winced and shook her head, "You are at least five blocks from the nearest equipment storage locker, and it does not sound as if you are able to traverse that distance with any amount of ease…"

_"No kidding…"_ Speedy winced as a bit of stone flew past his face, _"I'll manage. Might have to improvise a little, but I'll manage." _

"If you need assistance, I can call Raven or Troia and have one of them-"

_"No."_ Speedy sounded final, _"We need them doing whatever it is they're__doing…"_ he paused, _"Have you… spoken to Raven?"_

"She is well, and sends her love." Star nodded.

_"Thanks. If you talk to her again-"_

"I will tell her you are in her thoughts. I understand that you are not able to call each other right now."

_"Yeah… look, Kori, what do you know about what's happened since you were taken off the streets?"_

"The gang war has escalated and we are fighting to contain it on all fronts."

_"No, I mean with us personally… specifically about the fight I was having with Slade."_

Starfire blinked, "I assumed he retreated when the others arrived to help you fight."

_"He did, but…"_ Speedy's voice hardened, and his face set into an emotionless mask,_"He killed Red-X. Gregory is dead, Kori."_ He looked away and cursed silently under his breath, _"I have to go. I'm sorry."_ His eyes softened a little before he signed off.

Starfire sank back into her chair and let her hands fall into her lap. She stared at the city status screen for several minutes before a call came in. She sat up, broken from her state of shock by the phone call she was getting, "Y-yes? This is Starfire at Titans Tower. How may I help you Commissioner?"

* * *

Cyborg bowed one last time to the gang leader of the Triads. They had reached an agreement after almost a half hour of bickering over the terms. The Chinese gangsters would stay within their compound and defend it at all costs, and the Titans wouldn't come down on them like a tactical nuke for trying to expand their turf.

Robin had left some time ago, leaving Cy to sort out the details of the arrangement. Since the language settings in the positronic side of his brain allowed him to learn or upload pretty much any language, he had been able to do so in the Triad leader's native tongue. It had gone a long way towards getting them to trust him.

Now he was headed back across the East End, attempting to rendezvous with the T-Car as it homed in on his locator. As he went, he opened a channel on the com network and hailed the Titan's leader.

"Cyborg to Robin. Come in, man."

_"What's up, Cy?"_

"We reached terms. We got everything we wanted, and I only had to concede one thing."

"What's that?"

"They want us to cover their medical expenses."

_"That's reasonable."_ Robin was moving as he spoke as well, and he didn't have the video connection open on the com_, "I need you to head over to Gilmore Avenue and back up Speedy. Star called and told me he was pinned and running out of arrows."_

"Who's he shooting at?"

_"Russians."_

"I knew letting the Odessa get all that power was a bad idea."

_"They run a cleaner operation than the Maffia. We were trading one evil for a slightly neater one."_

"We shoulda' just raided and taken 'em both down."

_"We've been over this Cy…"_ Robin sounded tired.

"I know, and I still don't agree with you."

_"Organized crime will always exist in a city this size no matter how much we try to take it down. We're a team that deals with larger threats, and we don't have time to police the entire place… I'd rather have a few organizations making deals to not kill each other and to impose rules and boundaries on their wrong doing than a whole bunch of loose cannons running around wrecking half the city."_ It was a well rehearsed speech.

"I know your thoughts on the matter, man, but that doesn't change what's happening now. We let all these groups form, and now they're tearing the city apart with bigger guns than what we would have had to deal with otherwise."

_"I realize that, Cy. I have a plan that I think might solve a lot of our problems."_

"Oh yeah? This I've got to hear."

Robin was obviously smiling as he replied, _"You doubt my brilliant planning?"_

"Oh, not at all!" Cy rolled his eye, "You have such a great record of making really awesome long term plans on the fly in the middle of gang wars!"

_"Yeah, yeah. Listen to this... we need these groups to stop fighting so much, right?"_

"Yeah."

_"And they're only fighting because they're on different sides, right?"_

"Yeah?"  
_"Yeah. So, we just make sure they're all on the same side."_

"What? Against us?"

_"Not necessarily, but that would be a selling point for them, yeah."_

"And how are you planning to do this?"

_"By utilizing our best asset in the criminal underworld department."_

"What's that?"

Robin laughed a little insane sounding laugh and Cy was suddenly very worried. The Boy Wonder spoke again and the robotic Titan almost tripped over his own feet as he saw his car turn the corner and drive towards him, _"Isn't it obvious Cy? Our greatest evil leader… is Jinx."_

* * *

Beast Boy, in his huminoid form for the first time in almost an hour, watched at the last of the Bangers fled back to the east, where they would lick their wounds back on Bay Street. As he scowled, at their retreating backs, a member of the East End Rollers walked up to him and shouted in an angry manner.

"Hey! What the fuck was that, man! If you were gonna help us beat the Bangers, why'd you have to hurt us too?"

Beast Boy turned and punched him in the jaw.

As the man hit the ground, the changeling towered over him, almost shaking with rage, "You stupid motherfuckers got duped by Slade, and you started a gang war. Do you have any idea what's going on in the East End right now? The Muertos have Little Mexico on lockdown, the Triads are barely being contained, every gang in the city is choosing sides between you and the Bangers, and no one knows who they're really fighting for, the Odessa Mob is blasting anything that moves just west of here, and now the Maffia is massing soldiers down by the docks! This thing is about to blow up and go city wide, hundreds of people are probably going to die, and all you can fucking worry about is a few bumps and bruises?" he turned away, "Yeah, you guys are real hard. You protected your 'turf.' Real fucking heroes, all of you."

"You… we…" the man looked to the left as C.T. Roller walked over, limping heavily, and clutching his arm where he obviously got knifed.

"Hey… Beast Boy…" C.T.'s trademark shades were gone, and he was frowning, "What you just did… thanks."

"Don't thank me, Calvin." Beast Boy muttered, "Just get out of here. Don't you have a new baby at home?"

C.T. paled, "How'd you know that?"

"Dude, we have information gathering techniques on par with the military. We know everything about you." Beast Boy shook his head, "I'm going to clean up the rest of the fighting east of here. Get all your boys off the street, and stay inside. Cops'll be here in a few minutes, and they'll arrest anyone still standing around."

C.T. nodded wearily, then raised his voice, "Hey, we got a tip, ya'll! Five-O! Bug out and get home. Nobody say nothin'!"

As the men all started picking themselves up and tending their wounded, Beast Boy looked out over the battlefield. There were far too many corpses, and he knew there would be more before the night was over.

With a grim set about his features, the green Titan took wing as a hawk.

* * *

"You think this'll be easy as the boss says?" one trench coat wearing Maffioso asked another as they stood at the rally point with several other men.

"Yeah, it'll be like taking candy from a baby, you know?" the other man took a long drag off his cigarette, then tossed it on the ground and stepped on it, "Let's get moving, huh? These punks in the East End aren't gonna kill themselves for us."

"Our orders were to just chase 'em away from the first ten blocks and keep 'em away, Pat. Let's not go overboard." Another man said as he came up behind them, "Say what're you two lookin' at anyway?"

"There's some fires up there." The first man pointed at the orange glow in the sky, "It looks like some really bad shit is going down in the East End. I know the boss told us to do this, but… I don't know if it's worth the trouble."

"We follow orders, Mikey." The third man replied. Now let's get the boys together and-"

"And what?" a clear, female voice spoke from behind them. The second man, Pat, whirled around and pulled a side arm. He fired at the first person he saw.

Troia held up a wrist and deflected the bullet with her bracer. All three men gaped at her as she pulled a silver lasso off her hip and scowled at them, "The rest of your crew is already out cold, boys. Why not make this easy on yourselves."

"Not happening!" Pat shouted and pulled the trigger again.

Troia deflected the bullet back at him this time, blasting a hole in his leg.

"Ah!" he shouted as he pitched over.

"Holy shit!" Mikey started to back away, but a strong Amazonian punch was taking him off his feet a moment later. The third man, obviously the leader, backed away from the enraged Titan.

"Now hold on, Miss Titan! I aint gonna start no trouble without my crew!"

"Oh, I know. She flew over to him rapidly and lifted him off the ground by his shirt front, "I just need you to make an impression on those guys over there." And she pointed.

Another one of the Maffia crews massing at the docks was running towards them, pulling guns as they went. The man gulped as Troia hauled him back and shouted, "You boys want a fight! I'll give you a fight!" and she hurled him at them like a baseball. He screamed until he hit the four men in front, knocking them all down.

Troia flew in with a battle cry, deflecting bullets as she went.

* * *

Three Russian gangsters moved silently down the street, aiming their weapons around and whispering to each other. One of them was speaking in English.

"We have reports of a group of Mexican scum around here, da?"

"Da." One of his friends replied, "This is Little Mexico. They hole up here like rats."

"Then we kill them like the vermin they are." The first man chuckled. '

A sharp report sound across the quiet street and the first man fell as a gout of blood spurted from his left knee. He screamed as he fell to the ground, and his two companions started looking around for the source of the shot.

"There!" one of them shouted, and opened fire at a fruit stand where a pink haired young woman was crouching. She winced as she ducked down and shouted, "Now! Bring the hammer down!"

The doors of the buildings on both sides of the street flew open and several Muertos aimed guns out from within. Shots were fired, and bothRussian's went down, clutching non-fatal wounds.

Jinx charged out quickly and disarmed the Odessa men, then went about stopping their bleeding. "Come on, guys. Let's get these three one their way to the clinic up town a ways like the others."

"Sure thing, boss." Jose walked out and helped one of the Russian's sit up, "We kicked your ass, esse."

"I kill your ass, dog." The Russian replied and revealed that he had pulled out a side arm while he was on the ground. Jose's eyes went wide and the Russian was about to pull the trigger when a bird-a-rang flew out of nowhere and knocked the gun from his hand. As he started to curse, Jinx reached out and slugged him in the temple, knocking him out.

She jumped to her feet as Robin came charging out of nowhere and straight at her. "Robin? What are you doing here?" she asked.

Her eyes went wide as he jumped into the air and came down at her with a hard kick. Jinx reached up and blocked the rather sloppy, but impressive looking attack. As the two squared off, Robin scowled at her.

"You have some nerve, Jinx. Joining the Titans, then turning your back on us! You're killing people out here, and you don't even care!" Robin was shouting far too loudly for just the two of them to hear, and the pink haired girl was confused.

Then she figured it out.

"Oh, I got you to give me all that money first, didn't I?" she shouted back, "This is my part of town now, Robin. You'd better get the fuck out if you don't want to get hurt!"

"We'll see who's going to get hurt, Jinx." And he charged at her. He started attacking in a pattern she recognized immediately. It was a sparring routine they did to improve reaction time and endurance. She blocked and counterattacked exactly how she was supposed to.

Then Robin switched things up on her. He punched high when he was supposed to punch low, and it left her a huge opening. She took it, figuring he wouldn't have given it to her if he didn't want her to. She slugged him in the ribs, but he twisted at the last second to lessen the impact. She grinned, seeing how he was manipulating the fight to make her look good.

Then he spun hard and kicked her in the chest.

Hard.

Jinx flew back off her feet and slammed into a store front with a large picture window. She winced as he charged in at her, and held up a hand weakly.

"Robin… hold on, I'll-" but he wasn't listening to her. As he plowed into her, Jinx tucked her body in, making a better impact zone to go through the glass behind her, rather than simply hitting it and shattering it so that it would stick into her back and neck.

The two of them flew through the window, glass raining around them, mixing with their blood as they were both cut. They hit the ground, Robin on top of her, and Jinx put an arm in-between them to keep him from pinning her. He grabbed her hair with one hand and used to other to hold her shoulder down. She wrapped a leg around one of his, holding him to her and taking away some of his mobility. Both of them grit teeth at the other, and they both growled simultaneously.

Jinx's mood shifted suddenly. Laying there, fighting for their lives, pressed so close to each other… it brought back way too many recent nights of sin. Without pausing to think about it, she grabbed his head and crushed his mouth to hers, trying to wrestle his tongue out of his head with hers. Robin reciprocated for a full ten seconds, his hand holding her shoulder moving to grip her breasts and his hand holding her hair gripping tighter to force her head to a better angle for making out.

Suddenly though, he pulled away and released her, "No… fuck, Jenny, no!"

"Okay, okay… but you're so fucking hot right now, just so you know." She winked.

"Yeah. Thanks. Now knock me off of you and beat me up. You're about to become the gang leader of the better part of the East End and your 'boys' just saw me take you down hard."

"Gotta have a little more street cred, huh?" Jinx grinned, "Just so you know, I wont enjoy this too much."

"Whatever. Don't think I'm going to go easy on you."

"Wouldn't want you to. Oh, and sorry about your balls."

"So'kay. I wear a cup."

Jinx grinned, got a knee under him and kicked him off of her, back through the window. As he landed on the ground, and rolled back up to his feet, she was already charging out of the ruined store front and lifting a boot squarely between his legs.

She grinned as he winced in pain and fell to the ground.

* * *

Tara's T-Comp buzzed as she was getting off the highway and back into Jump City. She picked it up from the passenger seat and flipped it open, "Yeah?"

"I'm teleporting into the car. Don't freak out." Raven said over the connection.

"Okay." Tara flipped the com shut, then braced herself as a dark coldness washed though the Jeep she'd 'borrowed' from Becka. Rave appeared in a black burst of energy, and let her cloak settle around herself as she put her seat belt on. She glanced at Tara and arched an eyebrow.

"Are you trying to break the steering wheel, Tara?"

The blonde was indeed gripping the wheel exceptionally hard. She shook her head and gulped, "I haven't actually driven anything since… um… my drivers test."

"At least you have a license." Raven rolled her eyes, "Hanna and Ami never even bothered to get them."

"Heh…" Tara was under so much stress she was close to a nervous breakdown. Raven sighed and let herself absorb some of her friend's anxiety.

"Calm yourself, Tara." She spoke softly, "What you've agreed to do is so dangerous… I don't like it."

"I know. But I need to see him. I need to see what he has to say."

"Do you want your powers back too? And your old memories?" Raven asked quietly.

Tara shook her head, "I'd be lying if I said that kind of power didn't interest me, but if it meant erasing my whole life… the one I have now… I'd never do it. I love my parents too much, and all my new friends… I don't want to give this up."

"That's good. Keep thinking that way. Trust me, it helps to keep your friends and family in mind when going into something like this. Also keep in mind that Slade is a master manipulator. He'll do everything he can to get you to believe him, and he'll already have planned for every contingency. I'll be there, and Robin will be there, but this isn't going to be a walk in the park. If one of us tells you to run, you high tail it out of there. Understood?"

"Yes." Tara nodded, "Now tell me what information we need so I can try to get it out of him…"

* * *

On a dark street corner, forgotten over the long night's many bloody events, a body lay on the ground, it's head laying next to it. A lithe shadow fell over the corpse, and a young woman knelt next to it a moment later. Working quickly, she stripped the mask from the head, and inspected the damage to its connectors where it attached to the rest of the suit. After a moment, she tucked the mask away and began work on stripping the body of the rest of the suit.

Five minutes later she was gone and the body of Gregory Holt was just another gruesome murder in the East End of Jump City.

* * *

A young woman's sobs drew Beast Boy to an ally way. He crouched in the shadows as a cat and stalked forward to get a look at what was going on, as he still smelled more people down the dark ally.

When he arrived at the open area behind the larger of the two buildings that made up the ally, he froze and stared with wide eyes. Laying on the ground was a young black girl, no older than fifteen, with her clothes in tatters and a hunched over white man zipping up his fly.

"That's what you get for calling me ugly, bitch. Hope you get knocked up like the last whore I fucked." And he spit on her. Turning his scarred and battered face away from the girl, the young man started walking towards the ally once more.

Standing there in the shadows, his form outlined in the darkness, was Beast Boy.

"Oh… shit." Brad Wessmen stuttered out.

"You… you just can't learn, can you Brad?" the green changeling's voice was shaking with rage, "All this horrendous shit going on around you, and you're still… _still_ only thinking with your dick. Nothing is ever going to stop you. You'll just keep raping girls and ruining their lives until someone puts you down. For good." As he walked forward, Beast Boy grew fangs and his hands began to grow claws, "You'd better start running Brad… I don't know how much longer I can contain this animal in me, and it wants you dead_really_ bad…"

The back door to the building next to them opened suddenly and a man stepped out, lighting a smoke as he did. He looked up and saw them and the cigarette dropped from his lips. He glanced around and took in the situation, then his eyes rested on the girl on the ground.

"What the fuck… Sherry?" he whispered.

"Don't… don't look at me…" Sherry whispered back and tried to pull the scraps of her clothes around her more tightly.

"No… this fucker did not just… to my little sister…" and the man pulled out a gun and aimed it directly at Brad.

Beast Boy's eyes grew wide and he started to move forward, but stopped himself after just two steps. He glanced at Brad's wide eyes, then back over at the tears spilling out of the gun man's eyes. The man stepped forward until he was standing between Brad and Sherry and hespoke as he shook his head, "You'd better not try to stop me, man… Titan or not, this fucker just raped my baby sister… I'll kill you too if you try to stop me man… I don't fuckin' care… I don't fuckin' care…"

Beast Boy looked at the young man long and hard, then looked back to Brad. The scarred rapist looked scared out of his mind, "Well?" he shouted, "Aren't you going to stop him and save me? For crying out loud, he's going to kill me!"

Beast Boy looked down at Sherry, and suddenly she wasn't a young black girl in an ally way with tattered clothes, but a young blonde woman in an ally with a dress, her heels sitting next to her, who wanted to be a fashion designer when she went to collage and who didn't want to have to worry about having a baby because her young life was just starting, and even though she was strong and she would make it, it was so unfair that she had to suffer like she did…

Slowly, deliberately, Beast Boy turned away. As he started to walk back towards the mouth of the ally, he heard the man with the gun whisper, "Thank you…"

"Don't thank me." Beast Boy muttered, "I don't deserve thanks for anything…"

He winced as he heard the gun shot, but when he looked up, his eyes were cold and hard. "I've got work to do." He said aloud, and morphed into a hawk once more.

As he caught a thermal and rose towards the sky, Beast Boy let out one long, angry screech.

* * *

Closing Notes – I obviously had a lot of ground I wanted to cover in this chapter, so it took a long time to write, and ended up being really long. The next few chapters should be a bit shorter (I'll try to keep them to nine thousand words or so… this one is around thirteen thousand) so they shouldn't take as long. I also have a solid outline for the plot, so other than my work and school schedules screwing with everything, not to mention my wedding planning, I should be able to get them out sooner. Thanks for reading, and hit that review button to drop me a few comments!

* * *

Next Time – Will Jinx go mad with power? Will Robin admit his infidelity to Starfire? Will Starfire do the same for him? Will Speedy live long enough for Cyborg to come help him? Are Raven and Tara rolling into a trap? Is Beast Boy going off a rather murderous deep end? Where the hell are Deathstroke and Ravager? Will Troia beat off the Maffia all on her lonesome? And most importantly, what is Becka going to do when she finds our Tara stole her Jeep?

All this and the war goes city wide in The Battle for Jump City – Part II!


	11. The Battle For Jump City Part II

Ties Than Bind

Teen Titans Fan Fiction by Jacob McDonald

Opening Notes - I just recently finished enough of this to post. It was going to be much longer, but I figured after 11,000 words, your butts would be falling asleep in your chairs, so I split it in two. The next part isn't done yet, and it wont be for a few weeks at least as finals are just around the corner. I've been very busy writing for my university's newspaper (I've just applied for a paid editors position) as well as writing various plays (my first official production is going up this June!) I'm really sorry about the huge gaps of time between updates here, and I know I've alienated a large portion of my audience because of it, but that wont stop me from finishing this story, Jump City Symphony, and Forward Motion. I only have a few semesters left of college, then I'll be able to work on these projects more diligently, but until then, expect another year of updates being few and far between. Again, I'm really sorry, but I have to have priorities.

Standard disclaimers apply. I don't own Teen Titans.

* * *

**The Battle for Jump City: Part II**

**

* * *

  
**

Three Odessa mobsters stalked down an ally way leading to an open construction site up ahead. In this condemned section of Jump City, urban renewal was popping up all over, turning dilapidated buildings into housing projects that would provide cheep housing for the poorer residents of the city, well away from the rich 'philanthropists' that were paying for it.

The Russians paused as the lead man held up a fist. He pointed out of the ally to the open yard full of construction supplies and the other two looked and saw what he was indicating. The shadowy form of a young man was crouched in the shadows, looking away from them, with a bow and arrow drawn and aimed at the street entrance to the construction site.

The leader aimed his weapon, as did the other two. They steadied their breath and flipped off their safeties. The leader barked out, "Fire!"

All three of them opened up with full auto on. They emptied their clips, blowing almost one hundred eighty rounds of .35 caliber bullets into their target. As the echoes of their weapons faded, the three of them relaxed and moved forward into the yard. They walked over to inspect their kill.

"We killed this one good, da?" one of them chuckled.

"Yes. He was not so hard to kill." the second responded.

"Shut up." The leader snapped, "We confirm he is dead, then report it in."

"Yah, yah… who would survive that though?" the first one snorted.

As they made it up to the kill point they all paused. The form they had been shooting at was revealed to be a crudely fashioned dummy, assembled from two by fours, old work gloves, used tubes of wood glue, and cast-away soda bottles.

"Wha-" the leader started to say, but he was cut off by another voice, this one coming from above them.

"You'd be surprised how hard it is to kill a Titan." They all looked up in time to see Speedy bracing himself in the scaffolding up against the building they were next to, aiming his last particle detonation arrow at them, "Nighty night, assholes."

They all brought their weapons up but it was too late. Speedy fired and the explosion knocked them all out. The archer dropped down and moved to inspect his dummy. The arrow he had used to complete the decoy had been ruined in the hail of bullets.

"Damn." He muttered. Now he really was out of ammo. "Could this get any worse?"

From the street entrance to the construction site, a voice echoed, "Here! He is here and he has killed Dimitri's unit!"

Speedy looked over with wide eyes as four more Russian gangsters poured in and took aim. "Shit."

As they opened fire, he dodged left, then right, then back pealed as the bullets tore up the ground around him, "Shit shit shit!" he shouted and dove into the bucket of a back-hoe. As the bullets bounced off of his metal shield, he pulled out his com, "Speedy to Starfire… please tell me I'm getting close to that equipment cache…"

* * *

Star frowned at her map from where she sat at the main computer terminal in the living room of Titans Tower, "Affirmative, Speedy. You are less than a city block away, though you will have to make it through a construction zone to get there. It is across the street in the basement of the red building with the blue door and purple shutters."

_"That's an ugly color combination." _Speedy chuckled in a slightly hysterical manner, _"I don't suppose you have any kind of back up for me?"_

Star smiled, "As a matter of fact, I do. Victor, are you in position?"

_"Hell yes. Let's do this you Odessa creeps! Booya!" _

_

* * *

  
_

Speedy glanced over the top of the bucket just as a blast of blue sonic energy slammed into the gunmen, blasting them all to the ground. Cyborg charged in a moment later, swiftly rendering the two men still conscious into a very contrary state. The red haired archer let out a sigh of relief and dropped back to the ground, "Best timing ever, Vic."

"Ya' know I try!" Cy flexed his mechanical muscles, "Now how about we get you geared up again and finish these Russian mooks off once and for all?"

"I'm with ya' there." Speedy stopped to pick up the guns of the three men he'd knocked out, and by the time he made it over to Cy, the robotic Titan had already destroyed the weapons of the four he'd dealt with. Speedy handed him two of his guns but kept the third. Cy tore them in half and nodded to the one the archer still held.

"Nuh uh." Speedy shook his head and flipped the clip around so that he would have another sixty shots at his disposal. "Until I get a new quiver and a new bow, I need something to defend myself with."

"We don't use guns, man." Cy frowned at him.

"Well, extreme times call for extreme measures, you know? We can destroy it after I'm geared up again, and until then I can aim well enough to not kill anyone."

"I don't like this man… first Jenny is picking up guns, now you are… Robin's got the poor girl positioning herself to take over half the gangs in the East End, Donna's trying to tackle the Maffia by herself… and I don't even know where Raven is…"

"It's bad, yeah." Speedy was quiet for a moment as he checked the gun over to make sure he knew how to work it. When he spoke again, it was quietly, "Have you heard from Gar?"

"No. Why?"

"He was in the crunch up by the club last I knew. I'm worried about him. Lot's of bullets flying around, and he just got shot a few months ago…"

"I'll check in with him. Let's get moving." Cy motioned them along, and the two of them started walking for the equipment cache. Cy opened a com call on his arm as they moved, "Cyborg to Beast Boy…"

* * *

_"… you there buddy?"_ Beast Boy swallowed hard as he heard his friend's voice come through his com. He pulled it out and stared at it for a long time as Cy repeated his hail. The green Titan was perched on a building top, right at the corner, looking down at a stretch of road a stray East End Roller had told him had been taken by some Maffia goons already.

_"Beast Boy?" _came the call again, and the changeling snapped out of his funk. He flipped the device open and replied, "BB here."

_"You okay, man? We haven't got any intel from you about the crunch up by the club yet."_

"I'm fine. That fight's been broken up and I've moved on."

_"You okay? You sound kind of pissed."_

"I am pissed."

_"Thank you for the succinct replies, Robin. Now would you please tell me what's going on?"_

"I'm having a bad night." Beast Boy scowled at his friend, "I'm trying to work here, Cy. Leave me alone."

_"Hey, we're all having a time of it tonight, Grass Stain. No need to get all snappy."_

Beast Boy stared at his friend's worried face for a long hard moment, then spoke softly, "I'm logging off the network now, Vic. I think it'd be best if the Titan's didn't try to contact me for the foreseeable future."

_"What?" _Cy looked really worried now, _"Gar, what are you-"_

"Beast Boy out." And he flipped the com shut. A few button pushes later and it was turned off. The green Titan stared at it for another moment, then chucked it behind him onto the rooftop. Even if it was turned off, the others would be able to track it's built in GPS device. Reaching down, he tore off the backup GPS built into his belt buckle and threw that away as well.

Without a word or a second thought, Beast Boy became a hawk and started patrolling up and down the street, looking for his quarry.

* * *

"I thought you looked familiar." Jose said as he helped Jinx straighten her arm a little. She winced but nodded her thanks as he started wrapping a bandage around it to brace it a little.

"What are talking about?" Jinx asked.

"You're the chick from the fight club. The one who fought with Robin last year." He grinned a little, "Your hair wasn't pink then."

Jinx smiled back, "I'm a natural blonde."

"Heh… so what was that all about?"

"Robin is pissed that I'm siding with you guys… I'm thinking that I might not even stick with the Titans after this is over… the East End needs leadership. No more of this killing each other for stepping off your turf." Jinx shook her head, "If I can keep you guys from doing anything too bad… you know, no guns, no hard drugs, maybe clean up the prostitution… this could be a decent part of the city again."

"Yeah, I guess…" Jose looked skeptical, "You sure you could do that though?"

"If I unite everyone against a common enemy… like the Titans, or the Odessa… then yeah, I think they'd fall in line, and when they saw how much better things would be under me… I think they'd stay there too."

"Hmm." Jose finished wrapping her arm, "So that little spat with Robin was for show, huh?"

"Only partly." Jinx grinned, "I told him I'd get better. I kicked his ass this time."

"He almost broke your arm." The Muertos second in command stood up and looked over at the rest of the crew they were with. The men were milling about at the border of Little Mexico, talking quietly about the fight between Jinx and Robin, "They looked convinced that you're on our side now."

Jinx stood up with him and arched an eyebrow, "And you aren't?"

"I think you want what's best for us, even if we don't know what it is." Jose shook his head, "I won't tell anyone… the East End needs to be cleaned up somehow."

"Thanks." Jinx spoke softly, "You know I'll be making you my second now, right? You have to stick with me for this to work."

"I'll do what I can." Jose smiled weakly, "What's the move from here on out?"

"For now we hold down Little Mexico. Any one from the Rollers or the Bangers that wanders by, we bring 'em in. Any one from the Odessa or the Maffia… we pop 'em and send 'em up to the clinic."

"Alright. I'll tell the guys." And he walked away. Jinx took a deep breath and checked the time on her T-Comp.

"Only one in the morning." She muttered, "Gonna be a long night…"

* * *

Ami walked out of the bathroom down the hall from Becka's room and yawned hugely. She stumbled back down the hall and stopped in the doorway, letting her eyes adjust to the dark again so she would trip over anyone.

Looking about the room, she saw Becka and Hanna in the queen sized bed, both snoring lightly, and Ginger kicked back in Becka's reading recliner, a blanket covering everything but her painted toenails. Janice was curled up in a sleeping bag, right next to where Ami herself had been sleeping just a few minutes before. The red head scanned the room again, but came up short until she saw what she was looking for.

Tara's sleeping bag, still rolled up in the corner.

"Huh." Ami walked back out into the hall and down to the balcony. Tara had said she was going to stay up and play with her T-Comp for a while before crashing out, so she might have just fallen asleep outside. It didn't get too cold in Central California in September, but it would still be more comfortable inside.

"Tara?" Ami asked as she poked her head outside, "You out here?" Looking about the balcony, the red head saw no one. "Hmm."

Back inside, she thought for a long moment. Where else could Tara be?

A quick trip down to the kitchen later, and Ami was looking about there as well. She couldn't seem to locate the girl anywhere.

"Where could she have gone? Maybe for a walk?" Ami checked the front door. Sure enough, Tara's shoes were gone. Frowning, the red head opened the door and checked the driveway. There was Ginger's BMW, and the nicely manicured lawn, but no Tara. "Weird. Maybe she's out back." Ami shut the door and made it five steps before she froze. Looking back over her shoulder, she blinked. Running back to the door she yanked it open again and stared. "Where's Becka's Jeep?"

Slamming the door, she ran to the kitchen. They'd all been to Becka's enough over the years to know that the keys to the cars were kept on a rack by the side door. Ami ran down the list. Becka's dad's keys were still there, the car in the garage, and her mom's keys were still there, car in the same place. The two of them were in D.C. at the moment. The keys to the four wheeler and the minivan no one had driven in years were still there as well… but Becka's keys were gone.

"No… fucking… way." Ami ran back up stairs.

She pounded into Becka's room and dove for her bag. She was making so much noise that the other girls all woke up.

"Ami…?" Hanna sat up in bed and Becka moaned and rolled over. "What are you doing?"

"I need my phone!" Ami yanked her cell out and accessed the phone book, scrolling to Tara's name, which was the phone function of her T-Comp.

"Why?" Janice sat up too. Ginger looked at them with blurry eyes and arched an eyebrow. "Ami… what's wrong hun?" Jan rubbed her back.

"I think Tara stole Becka's Jeep."

Becka shot up out of bed, "WHAT?"

Ami was listening to her phone. The other line picked up, "Tara? Hello?"

_"Calm yourself, Ami." _came Raven's voice, _"Tara is okay. She's with me."_

_"If she's so okay," _Ami screeched, _"then why did she steal Becka's Jeep?"_

"She needed a way into town." Raven replied, "This line isn't secure, so I can't say much. Just trust the Titans on this one Ami."

_"Trust you? Since when is Tara a Titan?"_

_

* * *

  
_

Raven glanced over at Tara, who was wincing with each shout she heard coming from the T-Comp. Ami was being rather loud, "This is bigger than you can know, Ami. Believe me, I tried to talk her out of it."

_"Out of what?"_

"I can't say on this line. Don't call back."

_"Wait a second! Cassie, don't you hang up on me!"_

"Tell the girls I'll do everything I can to keep Tara safe. Goodnight." And Raven shut the com. Tara shook her head.

"That was kind of harsh."

"Slade could be listening." Raven frowned at her friend, "I had already said too much."

"I know." Tara glared ahead, "We're almost there."

"Then this is where I leave you." Raven's eyes flared black, "Don't believe anything he says, Tara. Just keep him talking and in one place for as long as possible."

"Got it." Tara nodded, and when she looked again, Raven was gone. "Sure." She swallowed hard, "Piece of cake."

* * *

Starfire sat back in the chair at the computer consol in the Tower's main room. She put a hand across her forehead and winced as it pulled at the fresh scaring on her back and chest. The tissue regenerator had done its work exactly as it was supposed to, and she'd been healed well enough to be put right back on the battle field if need be.

She never told her friends how much the device hurt, or that it actually did more damage in the long run due to its volatile nature. Most Tameranian warriors that were injured and healed with it were expected to die within a few hours any way, so the long term effects of the radiation it used were never considered a drawback. Still, it made her battle ready, and it was looking more and more like her friends would need her once more before the night was over.

The alien princess let her eyes trail up the large screen in front of her, red blips marking all the areas of the city that had emergencies. She'd never seen so many all at once, and they were starting to spread away from the East End as well. The Triads, true to their word, had stopped fighting with the Bay Street Bangers and the East End Rollers, but had instead struck out the other direction, directly into mafia controlled turf. Since the bulk of the Mafia forces were down by the docks they were away from that section of their territory. Still, the men there were entrenched and resilient, and they were giving the Triads hell with every inch they lost.

Little Mexico was free of any trouble spots, as Jinx was holding it down tight. By her last report her small gang of a dozen men had already swelled to thirty just from taking in stray Bangers and Rollers and promising them protection. If all went well, both leaders of the gangs would be submitting to her control in a matter of hours.

Speedy and Cyborg had reached the equipment locker and were gearing up to head back out and fight the Odessa some more. The Russians had stabbed deeply into the East End and they had wrested control of nearly a third of the area from its previous controlling gangs.

Starfire glanced at the list of Titans on the network and noted their positions. Robin was moving rapidly from the South in Little Mexico up to the north-east section of the East End, where Raven's signal was stationary. Speedy and Cyborg were at the equipment locker closer to the city-side, and Jinx was right where she had been for almost an hour and a half. Tara was up by Raven, and Troia was still down by the docks, in the southern part of the city, trying to stop the Mafia advance.

Blinking, Star double checked. She shook her head and looked once more to be absolutely positive, then opened a com line, "Starfire to Robin… we have a situation."

* * *

Robin laughed as he ran across a rooftop. He replied into his head set that was linked up to his T-Comp, "We actually have quite a few, Star."

"I fear this one is rather grave… I do not show Beast Boy's signal… anywhere."

"What?" Robin almost stumbled, "What about his backup?"

"Off line."

"So… fuck. Okay, open up the trace program and look for the non-powered GPS device built into the T-Comp. Unless it was completely destroyed, that will still function."

There was a pause, then Star replied, "I have found it… you are closest."

"I don't have time… I have to get over to Raven." Robin frowned, "Beast Boy will have to make due on his own for a while."

* * *

A man wearing a filthy white shirt and dirty jeans sat next to the third story window of a closed office building in the far west side of the East End. He grinned as he aimed a sniper rifle down at the street, tracking the head of a girl walking past. As she clutched her purse tighter to her chest and glanced around, looking for any danger, he licked his lips.

"Aw, sweetie…" the gunman muttered, "the biggest threat is up here!" His finger tightened on the trigger.

Suddenly, his sight was shoved down. Jerking his head back and looking up to see what had pushed his gun, the man blinked. Standing in the open window was Beast Boy, one foot on the gun, glaring down at him. "Hi." The green teen said, then kicked the man in the face with his free foot.

With a shout of pain, the man hit the ground. He looked up again in time to see Beast Boy walk over and grab his dirty shirt front and jerk him up halfway off the ground, "What are you doing here?" the Titan growled at him.

Eyes wide with fear, the man stammered out, "I was contracted through the Mafia! They told me to hold this street and keep all the other gang bangers off of it!"

"And was that girl sporting any colors?" The growl turned deadly.

"No!" the man shouted, afraid for his life, "No, I was just looking at her! I haven't shot anyone tonight!"

Beast Boy smelled his fear. He felt the animal inside himself stir. It was intoxicating, and it took all his will power to pull back and do his job. Pointing over at the window sill, he demanded, "What's that?"

The man looked over to his discarded gun, and then up to the pocket knife on the sill next to seven hatch marks carved in to the wood. He blinked, whimpered and his eyes rolled back over to Beast Boy, "Please… don't kill me!"

The changeling growled out a sound that was more animal than human and hauled back a fist, "We'll see." He said, and lowered his punch with all his strength.

* * *

Troia flew sideways along the waterfront, deflecting bullets from her gauntlets as she did. Her teeth were grit in pain from the impacts, and she growled out a string of curses in Greek before she got to better cover. Hiding behind a stack of crates as the bullets continued to ping around her, the Amazon looked around for a way to quickly end the fight with the Mafia goons she was locking horns with.

"This isn't going to be pretty." She muttered, then flew forward rapidly, leaving her cover and exposing her back. She felt a bullet graze her shoulder, but ignored it. She plowed fists first into a dock crane used for unloading storage crates from shipping vessels and started tearing beams off with her teeth grit. She could feel her muscles being stretched to the limit here. While she was exceptionally strong, and very resilient, she wasn't as powerful as Wonder Woman, or nearly as strong and invulnerable as Superman. Tearing at solid steel hurt her.

After a few seconds her destruction yielded results. The crane teetered dangerously towards the Mafia goons still spraying bullets at her, and she flew up high to the very top of it. With a scream of victory, she punched the area that joined the vertical and horizontal portions of the crane and watched it fall towards the men below. They ran screaming.

As the crane hit the docks, a huge cloud of dust and debris flew up into the air. The Amazonian warrior flew down into the confusion and made sure that everyone was still alive, but unarmed and terrified.

"You mooks might want to think about getting back to your own turf." She shouted at them, "My last report says that your buddies back in the city are getting their asses kicked by the Triads." Her voice softened, "This isn't a fight you can win… go help your friends."

The dark beauty floated with a sad look on her face as the men stood up, one by one, and fled into the night.

* * *

Cyborg looked on with a grim face as Speedy strapped another two quivers on and grabbed a new bow. The archer stashed the gun he'd picked up in a corner of the equipment locker and dug around in a few boxes before he came up with a couple of collapsible handheld crossbows. Those he strapped to his legs with a few bolts each. To finish off his equipment, he took a few minutes to attach reinforced bulletproof padding to several areas of his costume protecting his vitals. When he was done he looked bulky, but still lithe and mobile.

"You're giving up a little speed, Speedy." Cy joked without smiling.

"Not too much." Speedy grinned, "Besides, I'd rather be alive than fast. Let's check in with Star and see where she needs us."

Cy nodded and opened the com line, "Hey, Starfire, we're all set and ready to go. Where do you need us most?"

Starfire's response came quickly, "I am afraid the both of you will have to venture outside of the East End. The violence has spread almost city wide now."

"What?" Speedy demanded, "What's going on?"

"All along the borders of the East End, several groups of militant civilians armed themselves and took to the streets to defend their homes. Or so the police report states. The situation escalated and riots began to break out. Now every criminal and unsavory organization in the city seems to be at war. No one is choosing sides though… everyone is just…" she trailed off then spoke again softly, "killing. It is horrific."

"My God…" Cyborg breathed, "Star, I need a report on any metahuman conflict right now."

"Fang and Kitten have been spotted in the south part of the shopping district, and I have just pinpointed the location of Johnny Rancid near City Hall. Also, I think the Titans may need to step in and help the police with warding off Intergang. Their weapons are proving to be more than even the metahuman containment forces and SWAT can combat."

"Intergang." Speedy mumbled. "Great."

"I'll take Kitten and Fang." Cyborg said grimly, checking the readout for their location, "why don't you head up and teach Rancid a few things about what is and is not allowed in Jump City."

"I've got it." Speedy replied, "Starfire, see what Donna's up to and see if she can give the cops some help with Intergang. They're no joke, so tell her to be careful."

"I'll pass along your warning." Starfire replied, and Speedy and Cyborg were off running.

* * *

Tara stepped slowly through the heavy blast door that was open and leading into the belly of a condemned factory somewhere near the desert in the south east corner of the city. This part of town had originally been the major industrial sector before California had passed most of its environmental protection laws. Now, the outdated factories, so far from the coast, had no real value. The only thing keeping them standing was the cost of tearing them down.

A cool September breeze blew in off the desert and Tara shivered. She wished for a moment that she had worn more than jeans and a t-shirt under a light jacket. A sweater would have been nice. Or a parka.

Though, to be fair, the uncontrollable shaking that quivered up and down her spine had nothing to do with being cold.

As the blonde walked as quietly as she could into an old loading dock, she glanced around. Raven had said she would be nearby, and had reassured her friend that Robin was only a few minutes away and closing, but Tara saw nothing of them now. She was alone, walking into the den of one of the world's most deadly killers.

A voice broke the silence and Tara jumped with a light squeak, "So you did come… Daddy was sure you would chicken out." Ravager stepped out of the darkness and smiled perfect white teeth at Tara, "You look scared shitless."

"Maybe because you're a fuckin' psychotic maniac, bitch." Tara sneered at her, "You almost killed a friend of mine."

"Oh please!" Ravager laughed as she strode over to Tara, "You barely know her. I talked to her almost every day last winter."

"And you don't feel bad about stabbing her?"

Ravager shrugged as she stopped next to the blonde, "Not really. I've killed a lot of people. What's one more?"

Tara felt sick, "Just take me to Slade. I'm not here to see his darling little murder drone."

Ravager scowled and grabbed her arm roughly, "Yeah, let's go see Deathstroke, eh? Sounds like fun." And she dragged Tara forward into the factory.

* * *

A group of frightened looking East End Rollers walked as casually as they could down 44th Street, glancing over at the collection of liquor stores, laundry mats, and tenet housing across from them.

"Hey, where the fuck are we?" one of them muttered to another.

The man replied, "After we got away from all them bullets flyin' around back at the club, we went down Sycamore and ended up over here… that's Little Mexico." He nodded across the street.

"Shit… you think the Muertos will leave us alone?"

"Not a chance." A female voice said from in front of them. The four men stopped and looked forward to see a pink haired young woman with a yellow bandana aiming a sub-machine gun right at them. "You guys are Rollers, right?"

The one of them in front eyed the gun as he replied, "We're from over by the East Hall project houses. We were with the Rollers 'cause Bay Street's always tryin' to take over our trade."

"Drugs. Ug." Jinx shook her head, "Look, Russians are killing anyone without an Eastern European accent that's just wandering around here. Come over into Little Mexico for the night and we'll give you someplace safe to stay."

"What?" the spokesman looked suspicious, "Why?"

"Because I'm sick of people just running around the East End killing each other, that's why!" Jinx growled back, "I'm consolidating… I'm setting up a meet with C.T. Roller tomorrow to talk about bringing his gang into my organization. If the East End is a united front, we can stand better against the Odessa, the Mafia and the cops, not to mention the Titans."

"And you think you should be in charge?"

Jinx's eyes burned pink and the glass in the windows next to the four men shattered, "I have the power. The one with the power is the one in charge. Got it?"

The four men nodded, and looked relieved as Jinx led them across the street to where a band of her men were waiting.

* * *

"Becka, really," Ginger said in an exasperated voice, "calm down."  
"Ginger, you're sweet, and I love you," Becka growled back, her voice steadily gaining volume, "but she fucking stole my fucking Jeep!"

Hanna looked over at them from where she and Ami were sitting on the couch in the living room. "I can't get Gar on the line. It just goes straight to voice mail."

Janice was standing in the doorway to the dining room with her phone to her ear as well, "Cassie's not answering either."

Hanna looked doubly worried, "I'll call Kori. Maybe she can help us." And she started flipping through names on her cell.

"She stole my Jeep!" Becka shouted, "Doesn't anyone care about that?"

"It could be worse," Ginger grinned, "she could have stolen my Beamer."

Becka swatted her arm and Ami giggled. Hanna sat up straight on the sofa, "Hey! Kori! Yeah, it's Hanna. Hey, can you tell me what's going on? Where the hell is Tara?"

She listened for a moment, turning more and more pale as she did, then nodded, "Okay… two more questions," and her face turned red as she suddenly screamed, "did Tara go insane in the last few hours, and did Robin go even more insane for allowing her to actually go see that one-eyed freak?"

All the girls looked at her with horror etched on their faces for a moment, then Ami reached out and grabbed the phone away from Hanna when it looked like she was about to yell again. She put it on speaker and held it out, "Kori? It's Ami, and you're on speaker now. Tell us what's happening."

They heard Starfire sigh, _"Tara somehow managed to contact Slade through a hidden function specific to her T-Comp and she's meeting him in order to lead Robin and Raven to his location."_

Janice gasped and Becka covered her mouth. Ginger's was just hanging open. Only Ami kept a cool head, "Star… that's really bad. She could die."

_"She would not be dissuaded."_ Star replied, then quietly added, _"He told her he could give her back her memory and powers."_

"So she just went, just like that?"

_"I know it sounds strange to actually want to walk into the lair of a madman, but Tara did just that." _Starfire sounded exhausted, _"It has been a trying night on all fronts."_

Hanna suddenly spoke up, "Kori? I can't get Gar on the line… is he okay?"  
There was a long pause, then the alien girl spoke slowly and carefully, _"I do not wish to give you false hope or lie to you. We have lost track of Beast Boy."_

"What do you mean, lost track?" Hanna grew pale and looked sick.

_"We can not find his signal in the city, and his GPS has been stationary for almost forty-five minutes. I do not believe his Com is in his possession. He must have dropped it or… lost it."_

"Or he could be dead!" Hanna shouted, "Kori, someone has to go check it out! You have to-"

_"I can do no such thing."_ Starfire replied, _"I was rather grievously wounded earlier this night, and I am unable to leave the Tower at the moment. The communicator would not be powered off if Beast Boy had not done so himself. Now please,"_ the stress returned to her voice, _"I must get back to work. Keep us in your thoughts."_ And she was gone.

"She was hurt?" Becka squeaked, "What the hell can hurt Starfire?"

"I don't know…" Ami frowned, "This sounds… really bad."

Hanna sniffed and all eyes turned to her. Becka dropped her hands and ran across the room, catching the blonde girl up in her arms just before she burst into tears, "Oh, Hanna! I'm sure he's fine! BB knows what he's doing, and he wouldn't put himself in any really bad danger… not when you asked him not to!"

Hanna just cried harder as her friends grouped around her and wrapped her in a group hug.

* * *

Beast Boy growled a low warning sound out of his throat that sounded more like an angry dog than a person, "Tell me what you know about the Italians, or I'll chew your face off!" he said to the man he had pinned to the ground in a dark ally.

"They just want the protection trade in this part of the city! The Russians have it right now, and the Mob is just trying to take it back!" the man was a low level freelance enforcer, "Seriously! They just want what they had before!"

"Okay. That's fine." Beast Boy stepped back and yanked the man to his feet, "Anything else you want to tell me?"

"That you're a crazy son of a bitch?" the mook took a step back, "I'm just a message runner! Jesus!"

"You're running kill orders though, aren't you?" BB waved an envelope at him, "I read it."

"Oh. Yeah." The man swallowed hard, "Look, I was hired to do a job, and what's one more dead bad guy, right? They're just tryin' to knock off the high level Russians so they can win this thing!"

"They're killing innocent people. People who get caught in the cross fire, or people who they're wrong about working for the Odessa. You're helping them to murder people who have nothing to do with this ridiculous war."

"I'm just doing my job." The man turned away, "Are you going to arrest me now?"

A bear claw swatted him into the wall of the ally, and he fell to the ground, out cold. Beast Boy became himself again and thought for a moment. After a short time he looked up at the sky, "What would Robin do? Guess I'll go have a chat with Don Botticelli." And he took wing as a hawk.

* * *

"I want this one too!" Kitten squealed as she snatched a diamond necklace from a smashed case. Fang was nearby, shoving handfuls of expensive jewelry into a sack.

"Just grab all of it babe!" He shouted, "We can sort out which ones to keep and which ones to fence later!"

"Don't take that tone with me!" Kitten shouted back, "We're not getting rid of any of it! It's all mine! MINE!" she screamed.

"Aw, come on, babe!" Fang threw up one of his hands and two legs, "We're not gonna' have this argument again, are we? We need money! We can't keep everything we steal!"

"We can keep the shiny things though!" Kitten scowled back, shaking a fist full of white gold at him, "I WANT them, Fang!"

"At least let me sell off some of the stuff without stones in it! Just the gold! Gold has good pricing lately!"

"NO! I! WANT! IT! ALL!"

"You can't have it all!" Fang shouted back.

"Don't you tell me what I can and can't have!" she screamed back.

"Kitten, you're being-" Fang cut himself off and looked to the side. Kitten followed his gaze.

Cyborg stood in the blasted open store front, looking back and forth between them. "Trouble in paradise?" he asked with a grin.

"Kill him!" Kitten screamed, pointing a shaking finger at the robotic Titan.

"Uh…" Cy ducked as Fang launched himself across the store and missed his target, "No." Cyborg turned around and aimed his sonic cannon directly at Fang, who was crouched two feet from, trying to recover from his fumbled attack.

The blast of energy pinned the mutant to the floor and Cy kept the pressure on until he was sure Fang was out. He turned and saw Kitten running for the back door.

With a sigh, he gave chase.

* * *

Four cops ducked behind a police cruiser as bullets tore into the side of it. "Christ!" one of them yelled, "Has this guy ever had this much fire power before?"  
Another of the officers shook his head, "Guns are a little outside his MO… usually he has some huge mechanical something or another… like the dog. You remember the big dog, Owens?"

The officer identified as Owens nodded, "Yeah, I remember the dog."

Johnny Rancid laughed like a maniac as he sprayed more bullets their way with the huge Gatling gun he was blowing ammo through like it was water. City Hall was looking like Swiss cheese.

As the cops huddled down, a quick red clad figure dove from behind some cover and rolled to their position. Speedy crouched with them, grinning, "Evening officers. Anything I can do to help?"

"Got an arrow for that creep?" Owens asked.

"Sure I do. Got a few." Speedy drew three at once, "I'll draw his fire. You guys get to better cover and prepare to take a shot if you can get one." He frowned. As a rule the Titans didn't condone lethal force, and guns qualified by a wide margin. Robin wouldn't be happy if all he did here was help the police get a kill shot in on Rancid.

Still, desperate times and desperate measures. Speedy rolled out from the side of the blasted cruiser and fired his arrows. They detonated on Rancid's arm, blowing him to the side and stopping the endless barrage of bullets long enough for the Titan to shout, "Hey! Johnny! Why don't you pick on someone your own size!"

"You scum!" Rancid shouted back, "Eat it, Titan!"

"Eat it?" Speedy laughed as he dove away from a fresh spray of bullets, "Why do punks like you always tell us hero types to 'eat it?'" he came up from his roll and drew another arrow, which he fired at the gun this time, "What are we supposed to be eating?"

The gun was blasted apart in Johnny's hands, and he stumbled back before reaching for the chain around his waist. Yanking it off, he charged Speedy with a roar of anger, "Die!"

"That's a cliché one too." Speedy shook his head and fired a few more arrows, but Rancid dodged them all and closed too fast for him to switch to hand to hand tactics. The chain lashed out and Speedy was forced to block it with his bow. Rancid yanked the bow out of his hands as the chain wrapped around it, and Speedy watched with wide eyes as it sailed through the air, and came down right on the head of a civilian running for better cover. The woman went down without a sound.

Speedy's eyes narrowed, his mask forming to his face to show it. He took four quick steps back and yanked out both hand crossbows as he did. They were already loaded, so he aimed without really having to look and shot them both at once.

Johnny Rancid fell to the street, two sharp arrows buried in his legs, right above his knees. He howled in pain for a few moments before Speedy's boot found his jaw and knocked him to the ground. Kneeling on his opponents chest, the archer held another sharp, barbed arrowhead right under the villains nose.

"Johnny, I'm only going to ask this question once, so listen up. This whole thing is so far out of your normal operating range that it's actually kind of funny. You knew cops would come running when City Hall was being blasted apart, and you're new hardware isn't really easy to get your hands on… so who are you working for that wanted all the cops out of the way and was able to give you a military grade weapon?"

Rancid eyed the arrow, "Uh… Russians."

"Thought so." The archer stood up as the cops rushed over, "He'll live," he told them, "I have to go… more fires to put out yet."

"Thanks for your help." One of them nodded and Speedy dashed off, yanking out his T-Comp, "Speedy to Starfire. I have some new intel."

* * *

"Why are we up here?" Raven demanded as she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at her team leader.

Robin, using an antiseptic pad to clean a split lip from his fight with Jinx shook his head, "Because Slade doesn't know we're here yet." he pointed down through the roof of the building they were on, "Once we get anywhere close, he'll know. We have to wait for Tara to be in position and occupying at least some of his attention before we go in. Give it another few minutes, then we can go."

Raven shook her head, "This is stupid. She could already be dead." But the cloaked sorceress didn't move to disobey orders, "I don't understand."

"You don't know Slade like I do." Robin replied bluntly.

Raven opened her mouth to make a sarcastic comment, but shut it just as quickly, "Okay, I guess there may be some truth to that. You and he share a great many qualities."

Robin nodded, "I used to think that was a bad thing… I've since learned that it's how we use those qualities that makes us different."

Raven's mouth twitched into a smile, "I mostly meant you were both huge pricks."

Robin grinned back at her as he tucked the pad away and moved his arms around to get the blood flowing, "So did I."

* * *

Tara jerked her arm again, trying to dislodge Ravager's grip, but failed once again. The masked girl grinned a little and tugged her along with vastly superior strength.

Tara growled out a noise of pain, "You're a real bitch, Rose."

"Please, call me Ravager."

"You're a real bitch Ravager."

"Shut up or I'll cut your throat." Ravager smiled even wider.

"Screw off and die, bitch." Tara grinned back.

Ravager swiftly drew one of her swords and held it to the blonde girl's neck, "I can cut your head off in one stroke you know…" her grin turned sinister and her eyes narrowed behind her half mask, "Want me to demonstrate somewhere else? Like maybe… your hand?"

Tara gave her a hard stare, even as sweat beaded on her brow. Her knees felt weak and she knew she was going to pass out soon.

"Rose… that is no way to treat our guest." The silky smooth voice of the most dangerous assassin in the world floated to them from across the expanse of the old production floor of the factory. Both girls turned to see Slade standing at a table full of various chemical agents, mixing them together by hand.

"Sorry, Daddy." Ravager roughly shoved Tara into the room, "It won't happen again."

"See that it doesn't. I don't want my old apprentice damaged in any way."

Ravager seemed to bristle at that, "What do we do with her now that we have her?" she asked.

"Exactly what we said we would." Slade motioned Tara forward, "Come here Terra, and we'll talk."

Slade's daughter grew even more visibly agitated at this, "Daddy, I really think we should move on to the next phase of the plan."

"Of course we should," he replied, "Go begin. I'll do my part after you return."

"But-"

"Leave us, Rose." Slade's tone left no room for argument, "Terra and I have much to discuss."

Ravager's mouth fell open, and she stared at Tara. The blonde girl looked back at her and smiled a little, "Go on, Rose. Your dad and I don't need you here."

The white haired assassin snapped her mouth shut and turned on her heal. She didn't say another word as she stomped out of the building.

Tara smirked after her, satisfied she'd said the right thing to piss the other girl off as much as she possibly could. Her victory was short lived however, as Slade spoke once more, "Terra… come over here."

She swallowed hard and turned back to him. With a stiff gait, she started across the room.

* * *

Becka yawned hugely as she stepped into the kitchen of her home, hoping some herbal tea would help her sleep. All the other girls had more or less passed out on the couch, except Hanna, who had retreated to the upper level to be alone a half hour earlier.

Or so she had thought. As she flipped the lights on in the kitchen, her eyes widened a little. Hanna was inspecting the keys hanging on the board next to the door that led out to the garage. The pregnant teen didn't miss a beat before asking, "Which ones go to the minivan?"

Becka scowled, "What the hell do you think you're doing, Hanna?"

Hanna scowled back, "I'm going home to get my sword. Then I'm going to look for my boyfriend."

Becka sighed, "You really are fearless aren't you?" She walked over and placed a hand on her best friend's rounded belly, "Are you forgetting something, Hanna?"

The blonde looked away from her, "I just… I can't just sit here."

"I know how hard it is, sweetie. I'm worried too, but we're not super-heroes. You'll get killed, or you'll get hurt and loose the baby… seriously, did you even think about this?"

"If I stop to think about it, I'll chicken out. If I chicken out, Gar might…" she trailed off and shook her head, "I can't let that happen."

"You can't leave here either." Becka replied firmly, "I wont let you."

"You'll have to physically stop me."  
"Or take away your transport." Becka reached out and pulled the keys to the van off their hook. She quickly walked over to the window that looked out over the back yard, opened it, and tossed them out. "There. We can find them in the morning."

She turned back to Hanna and saw her staring with her mouth open, "What the fuck, Becka?"

"Hanna, please." Becka rolled her eyes, "You don't even know how to drive!"

"I do too!"  
"You don't have a license, so that's just as good as not knowing. Unless you want to hitch-hike back to the city, you're stuck here."

Hanna sighed and nodded, "Alright, alright… but you'd better have more ice cream for me!"

Becka grinned, "Now you're talkin' my language!"

As the two girls walked to the freezer and began to rummage for left over frozen goodness, Becka slung an arm around Hanna's shoulders, "We'll call for an update in the morning, and you'll see then. Everything will look a little brighter, and Gar will be rushing over here to smother you in kisses."

* * *

Don Botticelli looked up from the papers on his desk and glanced at the doors to his private study. His penthouse at the top of one of Jump's tallest skyscrapers was a highly secure location. No one could get up forty levels without being stopped by his men. The Jump City Mob owned the whole building, so he had been here since the violence started. The Russians were getting out of hand, and he needed to be in a secure location.

A noise in the hall outside his study had taken his attention from his paperwork, but he returned to it now without another thought. He was safe here, and he could work in peace without being disturbed.

With a sigh, he sat the paper he was reading down and rubbed his eyes. Who knew running a criminal empire would involve so much paper work? Still, it was the 21st Century now, and things were run differently than they had been in the old days. He had to review accounts, manage personal disbursement, sign acquisition requests… Botticelli often wished for the days when his family had run things from the back of a pasta shop, in small meetings over a bottle of wine. There were promises then, and a mans word was as good as a contract was no-a-days.

"Why can't I just order someone to go whack that crazy Ruskie they have in charge over there?" he muttered to himself.

Without preamble, the doors to his office were smashed open and the two guards that had been stationed down the hall flew in to the room, landing in a heap in front of his desk.

As Don Botticelli watched with wide eyes, Beast Boy strode into his office and walked right up to his desk. Reaching across it without pause, the green shape shifter yanked the Mob boss out of his chair and over the desk. He shook the older man once before lifting him a little and slamming him back into the desk, knocking aside papers, a pen holder and a picture of the Botticelli grandchildren.

Leaning in close, Beast Boy growled in Botticelli's face, "Where are you getting your information on the Russians from?"

Of all the questions he'd expected to be asked, this was not one Botticelli had anticipated. He stuttered for a moment, "I… uh… our people pass along their assumptions and we try to verify what we can. We get it right most of the time!"

"Yeah, _most_ of the time." BB let him up and stepped away, pacing, "But this gang war is forcing you to act without confirming people are actually with the Odessa, isn't it?"  
"Yeah, it's been messy. It's not how I like to run things." Botticelli sighed, "Look, kid… I want this thing to be over just as bad as you do, so I'm rushing things."

"You're killing innocent people."

"And a lot of bad ones. You gonna tell me you're upset by that?"

Beast Boy turned a hard glare on him, "Yes. I'm going to tell you to stop."

"Or what? The DA can't make a case on me, so you can't take me in-"

"Or I'll cripple you for life and tear this building apart. I bet the DA could make a case if they investigated this place as a crime scene, huh?"

Botticelli paled a little, "Uh…"

"Tell you what…" BB leaned forward and grinned his fangs at the Don, "Let's make a deal, you and me. I'll stop the Russians. Permanently. The cops will have them in custody before the night is over, and you can go back to running the organized crime in this city. But you'll run it clean… no more murders. If I find out you're breaking the rules, I will come down on you so hard you wont know which why is up. Capisce?"

Botticelli eyed him for a second, "Why are you doing this?"

"Because I'm sick of the way things are. There's only one way to fix this city, and it's not the way Robin wants to do it." Beast Boy walked back to the doors of the study and looked back over his shoulder, "I'll hold up my end, Botticelli. You hold up yours and everyone will be happy."

With that he became a panther and sprinted down the hall. Botticelli fell back and sat on the edge of his desk, wiping his brow. "I need a drink." he muttered as he surveyed his beaten up guards.

* * *

Starfire's fingers flew across the keyboard in front of her, her sling long ago discarded and her bandaged shoulder moving just as well as her healthy one. She spoke as she worked, trying to pull up more information and realign another JLA satellite at the same time.

"Speedy, what is your ETA on the Charmichael building?"

_"Six minutes." _came the reply, _"You have anything for me?"_

"Our most recent intel places at least seven armed guards in the lobby. Be careful going in."

_"I've dealt with so many Russians tonight, raiding their headquarters should be a cake walk. I'll call when I get there."_ and he signed off.

The next call Star made was to Cyborg, "Victor, what is your situation?"

_"I'm still chasing down Kitten. Girl can run."_

"I advise use of extreme force." Starfire sniffed.

_"I bet you do." _there was a grin in Cy's voice, _"Give me five and I'll have her."_

"Very well." Star switched channels again, "Jinx? Can you report?"

_"Fuck off and don't call back, bitch."_ Star rolled her eyes at Jinx's use of profanity, but read the simultaneous text message that rolled across her screen; _Doing fine, will call soon. _

Since she was under strict orders not to call Robin or Raven until they called her (Robin didn't want to chance Slade intercepting their communications) Star put in a call to the police.

_"Talk to me." _came Commissioner Bret DeBack's voice.

"It is Starfire, Commissioner."

_"God am I glad they have you making these calls tonight. You have no idea how welcome the sound of a cute red-head's voice is right now."_

"I will impress upon you once more that I am young enough to be your daughter, Commissioner." Starfire grinned anyway,

_"Yeah, yeah. How are the Titans doing?"_

"We are handling the metahuman threats to the city as we speak, and we will soon be eliminating the Odessa influence if all goes well."

_"And Deathstroke? What's going on with him?"_

"Robin has not contacted me with any new information, so I cannot say."

_"Tell me as soon as you know anything."_

"Very well. Troia should be ariving to assist with the repelling of Intergang soon… have your men seen her yet?"

_"She's here… half of them can't shoot straight 'cause they keep staring at her rack."_

Star grinned again, "I will tell her to wear a more conservative outfit next time she is doing the saving of you ass, Commissioner."

DeBack grumbled over the line for a moment, then spoke once more, _"Any word from Beast Boy?"_

"Not as of yet." Star frowned, "We will search for him very soon."

_"Good. Keep me posted, Starfire."_

"I will. Be careful out there, Commissioner."

_"Same to you kids. DeBack out." _and the connection ended.

Star sat back and looked up at the screen before her. The map of the city showed all the hot spots, most of them no longer in the East End. The war had spilled into the commercial district, as well as numerous residential areas. Street to street fighting had exploded through most of the city, and it looked as if the Titans and the police were going to be hard pressed to contain it.

With a sigh, Star decided she couldn't wait for Robin's orders any longer. She opened a general frequency and hailed all Titans, world wide.

"This is Starfire with a priority one alert. Jump City is in danger, and Titans West can no longer contain the massive levels of violence in our city. If you are free, we need you here, as soon as possible. Please, friends… we need your help."

She set the message to auto replay and went back to her work.

* * *

Kitten crouched behind a stack of pallets out back of a shopping center and sighed in relief. "Lost him." she muttered and grinned down at the diamonds she was still wearing. "Stupid Fang. I've got all I need right here…"

Suddenly, without warning, a huge titanium hand clamped down on her shoulder and lifted her off the ground. Cyborg grinned as he held her aloft by the back of her shirt and watched her try to kick and hit him. He held her at arms length and she couldn't even get close.

"Gotcha'." he said as he pulled a set of handcuffs from a compartment in his hip.

"How did you find me? I was hidden!" Kitten was furious.

"Kit, you're wearing a bright pink top, you're hair is light blonde, and you've got a quarter million dollars in diamonds hanging off of you. You practically glow in the dark, girl." Cy rolled his eye.

Kitten stopped thrashing around for a second and considered that, "Oh." She held out her hands, "Fine then… back to prison I guess…"

Cy clamped the cuffs on her and sat her down, holding her shoulder with one hand, "Why do you keep doing stuff like this anyway? Does Fang put you up to it?"

Kitten shrugged, "I just want to make Daddy proud."  
"Girl, your dad runs around dressed up like a giant moth. Why would you want to impress that guy?"

Kitten considered this as well, "Huh. You know, you might have something there…"

Cy grinned again and shook his head, "Maybe someday you'll get over your maniacal and pathological need to steal stuff and actually do something positive with your life."

Kitten nodded with a sigh, "For now though… I just turned eighteen. That means five to fifteen in the County Jail."

"Most likely." Cy nodded, "Have a nice rest, Kit."

* * *

A car full of thugs tore around a corner as two of them leaned out the back windows and blasted at a trio of police cruisers giving chase. One of the cop cars swerved as bullets tore through the windshield on the drivers side, and the car jumped a curb and slammed into a store front.

The remaining two police cruisers backed off as the men poured more lead their way, and the car full of criminals started to pull away, looking like it was going to be able to make a break and get off without an arrest.

As the car roared forward, a lone figure stepped out into the road, directly in it's path. The red clad young man raised a bow and arrow, and fired a single shot.

The arrow exploded on the right front wheel of the car, and the tire was disintegrated instantly.

The loss of support on the front right of the vehicle was enough to send it jerking that way. Speedy was already firing another arrow, this one at the manhole cover in the car's new path. The small explosion blew the cover off, and the car's front right corner dipped into the hole in the street.

At the speed the car was going, it was obvious bad things were going to happen. Physics took over and the sudden jerking stop of the car couldn't catch up with it's momentum. The vehicle, and all four men inside of it, flipped, end over end down the street, missing Speedy by a full seven feet. It traveled almost a hundred and fifty yards before finally coming to a sliding, hissing stop. One of the police cars flew past the Titan archer to go secure the car, and the other slowed down next to him.

"Thanks." the cop said as he leaned out his window.

"Uh…" Speedy grinned a sheepish grin and scratched his head, "Actually, they were going a lot faster than I thought… I just hope they're all still alive in there…"

"Well, keep up the good work anyway." the officer nodded, "Where are you headed?"

"Kind of a secret… the Commissioner knows, but we want to keep it on the DL for now… it'll help put a stop to some of the violence though, so keep your fingers crossed."

"I hear that." the officer nodded again, "See ya." and he was off.

Speedy turned towards his goal once more, "Let's see if the Odessa are ready to talk peace." he muttered as he drew another arrow and kept it at the ready. The Charmichael building, the headquarters of the Russian Mob, was only half a block away.

* * *

Tara sat on a high stool, watching Slade work for a short time. He spoke as he mixed various chemicals, and turned the heat up on some strange, dark liquid.

"Before my death and resurrection, I had a dream, Terra…"

"Tar - ah." she corrected him.

"Ah, yes. My apologies. _Tara. _I had plans to carve an empire for myself from this section of the US coast and from here spread my genius across the globe, fixing all of societies ills, and remaking the world in my own image…"

Tara snorted, "Not even you could be that crazy."

"Hmm." Slade nodded to her, "As you were then, you think logically and coolly. A failure my first apprentice never over came."

"Robin." Tara whispered.

"Yes, Robin… he believed that I was capable of anything, and that my mind was driven by madness. You never did."

"So what… I was the daughter you never had or something?"  
"Heavens no… while it's true my ex-wife kept Rose away from me and my life… a decision I commend her for… I never set out to replace her. You were… more than that. You were a companion who shared my vision of destroying the Titans… for their own good."

"What the hell kind of sense does that even make?" Tara squeezed her eyes shut, "Please, please don't tell me I was more than just your apprentice… If Terra slept with you I'll have to go boil my own uterus."

Slade actually laughed, "No… I was never interested in you that way."

"Thank God for that…" Tara opened her eyes and saw Slade filling a glass container with the strange dark liquid and walking over to her with it. He offered it to her and nodded.

She eyed the cup, "Will that… give me back my powers?" she sounded almost afraid as she looked up at his face.

Slade's one exposed eye blinked behind his mask, "Only if drinking strong black coffee gives you the ability to move the earth with your mind."

Tara blushed a little and took the cup, "Oh… uh… thanks." she gingerly sipped the hot liquid, "Mmm… how did you know I liked it black?"

"I have a memory too, Tara. Raven isn't the only one who can tell you about your past."

"Right." Tara sounded weak, "You know, honestly? I thought you'd be a lot more evil."

"A sentiment I'm sure Robin shares." Slade rolled his eye this time as he poured himself a cup of coffee as well.

"So… why did Terra betray the Titans any way?"

"You…" Slade paused and shook his head, "She was angry at them. A deep rage burned in her, and she hated them for having what she could never have… a family. Or, at least she thought she could never have it. If she had grown up and gotten over her teenage angst, she would have realized she could have the family she'd always wanted if she calmed her anger long enough to get to know people."

"But she didn't."  
"No, I got to her first." Slade pulled his mask off so he could drink his coffee and sighed, "I manipulated her in to working for me and helping me destroy the next generation of heroes before they could become too powerful."

Tara studied Slade's face. He looked to be in his mid thirties, and he had white hair much like Rose's. His beard ended in a slight point, and a black eye-patch covered his right eye.

"You manipulated her." she said softly, with a hard stare.

"It's what I do best." Slade's smile was bitter. "Yes, I twisted her to my own ends."

"Why do you want to destroy the Titans so badly?" Tara asked, looking away, "And don't feed me some line about destroying the next generation of heroes. That's crap and you know it… there will always be more people willing to stand up to killers like you."

"I suppose there is some truth to that." Slade sipped his coffee, "At first my goal was to train a replacement, and Robin fit the bill nicely. After his defection and my subsequent defeat, Terra was there for me to take my revenge. After my death and revival, I decided to leave the Titans alone. But recently, I've had a change of heart."

"Because of Rose." Tara drank some of her own coffee.

"Partly, yes. Rose needs to cut her teeth somewhere, and against the Titans is an ideal place. I have other goals as well, but the gang war will keep them busy long enough for me to use it as a smoke screen."

Tara looked around, "What are you mixing up over here?" she motioned to the table full of chemicals.

"I think that's enough questions, Tara. You aren't thinking of running to Robin, are you?"

"No." Tara shook her head.

"Hmm." Slade walked over to the table and picked up a vile of blue liquid, "Let's get started then."

"With what?" Tara eyed the vial as she slipped off he stool and backed away a few steps.

"You wanted your powers and memories back, didn't you? This is the first step."

"Right… I have a few questions about that actually…"

"No more questions, Terra." Slade stepped forward and held out the vial, "You can drink this and become my apprentice once more, or you can not drink it… and I'll kill you."

* * *

Closing Notes - I'll try to finish the next part within a week or three. I know I got spoiled back in my hayday of fan fic writing with all the reviews I got, but I really would like to implore you to click that little button and share your thoughts with me. I really do like hearing from you guys and girls. Thanks for reading!

Next Time - The climatic conclusion of the Battle for Jump City!


	12. The Battle For Jump City Part III

Ties That Bind

A Teen Titans Fan Fiction by Jacob McDonald

Opening Notes – Yes, I'm working on the next chapter of Jump City Symphony. This one was halfway done though, and I took a five hour nap today and can't sleep tonight as a result. So I finished this. The second part of it might be a little rough, but not that this chapter is past, I can really get the rest of this story moving. This one was kind of a hurdle for me. It has a ton of action, and a ton of drama, so be ready for it. Not as much funny in this one, but lots of story. Enjoy.

Standard disclaimers apply. I don't own Teen Titans.

* * *

**Chapter 10 - The Battle For Jump City Part III**

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* * *

  
**

_Ravager and Cheshire. Frienimies. _

_

* * *

  
_

Ravager stepped to the middle of a rooftop of a building somewhere deep in the East End. She tilted her head to the side as gunfire echoed in the distance. The violence that had torn up the streets in this part of town had moved further west now as the major players like the Mafia and the Odessa started to really try and kill each other.

Now, the white haired girl sighed in a put upon sort of way. She dropped the duffle bag she was carrying and called out, "Cheshire! I know you're there! Come out and let's get this over with!"

A moment later a lithe female form skipped out from behind an AC unit in front of Ravager. The girl was dressed in a short green kimono, and had a white mask on her face in the form of a cat. Black hair spilled down her back, held in place by a thong of leather, making it a long pony tail. The sleeves of the kimono, normal hanging down over her hands, were pulled up and pinned back so she could carry a large case, which she sat down in front of Ravager with a thump.

Ravager herself sighed and looked down at the slightly shorter girl. "Jade, do we really need to do this all professional like?"

Cheshire shook her head and reached up, pushing her mask up to rest on top of her head, revealing sharp Asian features, softened slightly by some other nationality. "I thought you'd never ask." she replied and sat down on top of her case. Ravager too plopped down on the rooftop and yanked her mask off, letting her blue eyes scan the night sky.

"What a night." she said, "I haven't slept in like two days."

"Yeah, destroying a city can be a time consuming process."

"Yeah. It's good to see you up and around though. Just out of the hospital aren't you?"

"Yeah, it was a bitch." Cheshire pulled a pack of cigarettes from her sleeve and took one out. Offering one to Ravager, she waited while the other girl took one then slid them away and pulled out a regular Bic lighter. She lit her own, then passed the light to Ravager, who lit hers and passed it back.

The two sat puffing on their cigs for a few moments before Cheshire spoke up again, "So, Rose… I heard you mixed it up with Robin the other night."

"Yeah, so?"

"Was he hot? He was hot a few years ago during the Brotherhood of Evil thing. I saw him fighting at that last battle and he was really…" she moaned a little, "He was something."

Ravager leaned forward and grinned, "I totally had him where I was straddling him, and I swear I almost ripped off my own pants. I would have fucked him right there if he had let me."

"Heh. Be careful fucking Titans. You never know what might happen."

"Oh yeah… you and Speedy."

"Yeah. Me and Speedy." Cheshire rolled her eyes, "Anyway, I got the thing here." she slapped the top of the case, "Pulled it off the guy with no head, packed it up in a level three containment case and brought it out here."

"Level three huh?"

"Zinothium isn't the kind of stuff you screw around with." Cheshire shook her head, "I'm sure your dad is interested in Robin's little super suit, but be careful with it."

"Yeah, yeah." Rose finished her smoke and stubbed it out on the rooftop, "Speaking of Daddy, he wants you out of town after this."

"I have a little more business here. Nothing that will get in his way though, so don't worry."

"Hmm." Ravager toed the duffel she'd brought, "Six million, like we agreed. And I'll cover for you this time Jade, but you owe me."

"Sounds good." Cheshire stood up and pushed her mask back down, "I'll be gone in no more than two days. Nice doing business with you Rose."

"You too." Rose put her own mask back on and picked up the case, "See you around, Jade."

Cheshire picked up the duffle, and like two shadows, the girls flitted off into the night.

* * *

_Speedy and Beast Boy. Friends. _

_

* * *

  
_

Two men met in front of the elevator on the fifteenth floor of the Charmichael Building, each of them checking over their guns. The taller of the two spoke to his companion in Russian, "I just heard the intruder has moved up to the second floor."

"He made a mess of the lobby." The other replied, "I wonder if he is trying to bring down the building."

"No way of telling." The two waited in silence for another few seconds as the elevator came up and the doors opened.

"We will kill him and dump his body in the bay. The Titans will all die for this." said the shorter one.

The two went to step onto the elevator, but they were stopped forcefully as a green orangutan swung down from the top of it and kicked them both in the chest. A second later, a grizzly bear was swatting away their guns, and a second after that a huge python had them in submission holds. The two men were unconscious is a matter of moments.

Beast Boy became himself again and picked up the guns. He walked down the hall a few steps, opened a closet door and tossed them into the back of it. As he shut the door, an explosion rocked the building for the third time since he'd been in it. Someone was blowing apart the lower levels, and he needed to find out who it was if he was going to keep his promise to Don Botticelli. His plan was too important to let some other player take the Russians out instead of him. He needed the Italians to owe him this favor.

Walking back to the elevator, he pushed the button for the seventeenth floor and waited for it to go up. As he stood humming a tune, one of the Russians started to come to.

Beast Boy kicked him in the head and he was out once more.

After another few seconds, BB pried the doors to the elevator open and jumped down the now clear shaft. Becoming a fruit bat partway down, he fluttered to a ventilation duct on the fourth floor and flew down it. He crawled along until he came to a vent cover and peered out into a large office area.

Speedy stood on the table in the middle of the room, using his bow to whack anyone who got close to him in the head. He was grinning, "Come on, boys! Is this how they teach you wimps to fight in the Motherland?"

His words sparked new rage in his attackers, and they lost even more focus. He had them all down in a matter of moments as their attacks became sloppy and readable. As he jumped down from the table, Speedy tossed a small particle detonation device at the wall, where it stuck and started blinking.

The little bat Beast Boy narrowed its little batty eyes, then became a large tortoise, bursting his way out of the duct and becoming himself again before he hit the floor.

Speedy turned with a drawn arrow and his eyes widened as he saw his friend, "BB! Dude! We've been looking for you! What the hell happened to you man?"

"Roy..." Beast Boy stepped forward and bowed his head, "I need you to listen to me. I'm handling the Russians, and its part of my plan, and you can't interfere any more, okay? You have to leave."

"Gar?" Speedy chuckled, "What kind of joke is that? You're slipping, man. Now come on. I've got the first four levels of the building wired, and after the next two we can blow this place, cripple the Russian communications without taking the building down, take the Odessa out of this gang war and be back at the Tower in time for breakfast. What'da ya' say?"

Beast Boy stopped in front of him and looked up with cold eyes, "I say I'm not a Titan any more, and you need to leave."

"BB?" Speedy took a step back, "What are you-"

"Do me a favor Roy. Stay down."

"What?"

Stay..." Beast Boy belted him across the jaw, then kneed him in the gut, then double fisted him across the shoulders, "DOWN!"

Speedy gasped for breath on the ground, then rolled away and came up with an arrow aimed at BB's chest, "I don't know what the fuck is wrong with you, B... but if that's the way we're gonna' do this, then you'll just have to find out why Robin only does combat training with me these days."

"Yeah, we'll see." Beast Boy narrowed his eyes.

As the changeling became a panther and lunged, Speedy let his arrow fly.

* * *

_Jinx. Reformed villain. _

_

* * *

  
_

Jinx stood with Jose outside his apartment building in Little Mexico, both still armed, but more relaxed now that they were away from the flying bullets.

"I just don't know if the guys will want to give up the heroin trade." Jose was shaking his head, "It makes us a lot of money, you know?"

"Yeah, but it kills a lot of people. I don't see a problem with the weed or the X, but I really think the rest of it needs to go. Don't worry, if things go well, we'll have all that crap out of the East End in a few weeks... people will just have to go to the Mafia if they want that crap, and we can direct the cops to their door steps instead of ours."

"That sounds like a good selling point." the young man nodded, "How you gonna handle the girls?"

"The hookers?" Jinx wrinkled her nose, "I'm gonna find all their pimps and cripple them. Then I'll tell the girls to get different jobs if they don't want to end up the same way."

"Seriously?" Jose arched an eyebrow, "Now, I don't want to sound like a total pig here Jinx, but that's gonna be kind of hard, don't you think?"

"Look, Jose... as a matter of principle I just don't like prostitution, okay? As a person that used to be part of something she had no choice but to be part of, and yes, as a woman, I can't let these girls keep selling their bodies. I just don't like it."

"Okay, but you're gonna be fighting an uphill battle girl. The guys aren't gonna like having to work for their pussy."

"I get that. But they'll just have to learn." she shook her head. "Now... where's Murry with the recruitment report? He said he'd be here a half hour ago."

Jose looked across the street and pointed, "Here he comes now... hey, he's running."

Jinx whirled around and saw Murry, one of the Bay Street Bangers she'd recruited into her gang, running down an ally that led out to the border of Little Mexico and Bay Street turf. He was shouting.

"Russians! They sent a whole fuckin' army down here to kill us!"

Jinx rushed forward, running past him as he ran to Jose. She called back over her shoulder, "Get the guys, Jose! I'm gonna see what I can do to stop this!"

"On it!" he shouted back.

Jinx ran full tilt down the ally and didn't even slow down as she barreled out into the street beyond. She saw her gang, Bangers, Rollers and Muertos, all taking cover behind cars and buildings and aiming weapons. Advancing down the street was a small platoon of Odessa foot soldiers, all with fully automatic guns. One of them tossed a grenade to kick things off.

Jinx cursed under her breath and threw a lance of pink energy at the explosive while it was still in the air, blowing it before it could reach her people. She ducked back behind the corner of the ally as the Russians opened fire, taking military formation and slowly advancing on their position.

"Fuck." she muttered and called to her men, "Hold your fire until my mark! Aim to wound!"

"Fuck that!" one of the former Rollers shouted back at her, "They'll kill us! Waste those mother fuckers!"

The sentiment seemed to be shared by his fellow gang bangers. They all stood and opened fire with their own weapons, several of them going down as the more accurate and better trained Odessa soldiers started taking kill shots.

Jinx screamed out a cry of anger and moved from behind her cover. A burst of pink hex energy pulsed off of her, and all the bullets flying through the air missed their targets. Another pulse a half second later and all the guns within a hundred yards of her jammed suddenly. Yanking her own gun up and flipping the safety off, Jinx took aim and started firing single shots at the Odessa as they turned and ran.

One man went down with a bullet through his knee. Another clutched his right arm, as a shot tore through it, but he kept running. Still another man screamed as his ear was blown off the side of his head.

Jinx thanked the Headmistress of the HIVE under her breath for making her do all those practice hours on the firing range.

As the last of the Odessa fled into the night, Jinx nodded and turned back to her men. Several were already dead, and the one that had instigated the whole thing was staring at her with wide eyes.

"Hold him." she ordered the others, and two of them grabbed him. One put a gun against his head.

"You just got our friends killed, esse." the Muerto said, "Now you get killed yourself, fool."

"Wait!" Jinx held up a hand.

"No, we should bring him to the others and do him there." one of the former Bay Street boys said.

"We should let Tom's little brother do it." put in a former Roller who was closing the eyes of the aforementioned Tom, who had just bleed out his life on the street.

"We're not killing him." Jinx growled.

The men ignored her once more. The two holding the man yanked him to his feet, "We gots to take a vote then." the Muerto said, "All in favor of killing him right here?" he raised his own hand.

Jinx's mind started whirling a mile a minute, trying to come up with a way to stop things before they spiraled out of control and she lost the leadership of her gang.

* * *

_Tara. A Titan._

_

* * *

  
_

Tara eyed the vial of blue liquid she held in her hand then looked up at an expectant Slade, "So this is it?" she asked, frowning, "Join me or die time?"

"That's exactly what this is." Slade pulled his mask back on, "Drink, Tara, and the genetic lock on your metahuman powers will be opened."

"And my memories?" Tara stood up straighter.

"A device in that room will restore them to you." Slade motioned to a door off to the side of the room, "You will unfortunately forget all the things you've lived up to this point."

"So... I'll forget my parents... and being friends with the Titans."

"It's the only way to make sure you won't betray me again... but you'll be Terra again. And this time, I won't take you for granted. I rather like having a daughter around... you could be like a sister to Rose."

"What if I just drink this and get my powers back? Did you ever think of that?" Tara started to tip the vial to her lips.

"Without your previous memories, you won't know how to use your powers." there was a smile in Slade's voice, "Only I can give that ability back to you."

Tara stopped the vial at her lips and scowled at Slade, "You're a bastard. You just want another weapon. You don't care about me!"

Slade sighed, "Tara, I gave you this _new life _because I care about you. It's your choice to throw it away and go back to the way things were."

"But I want both!" Tara shouted.

"It can't be both ways." Slade reached over to a table and lifted his sword from it. Strapping it across his back, he then drew the blade and pointed its tip at her. "Drink, Tara, or die."

Tara screamed in frustration and hurled the vial at him. Slade dodged it, and when he looked back, Tara was halfway to the door.

She was no where near as fast as he was though and he'd caught her and grabbed her by the hair before she could make it to the exit. "You try my patience, Tara." he growled, "You WILL be my apprentice once more!"

Tara winced in pain, but still managed to throw a sloppy back handed punch at him. With his sword in one hand and her hair in the other, and being too close to mount a defense, Slade took the blow to his chin. He let go of her hair and took a step back.

"You insubordinate-" Slade was cut off as the door to the exit opened and reveled Robin, leaning casually in the doorframe.

"I think I should be the only insubordinate apprentice here today, Slade." he looked up with a grin.

"You-!" Slade didn't get a chance to finish his sentence because at that moment Raven's soul-self wrapped Tara in shadow and moved her to the other side of the room, where it coalesced into the form of Raven, dropping the blonde girl from her cloak.

"Stay down, Tara, and let us handle this." Raven ordered.

"Yeah." Tara gripped her own arms, shivering, "No problem."

Slade stared with a wide eye at Tara, "You... I'll kill you for this!"

"You're loosing your cool, Slade." Robin stated happily as he launched a flying kick into the villain's side, blasting him into a table and making him lose his grip on his sword, "Not like you at all."

Slade recovered in time to flip out of the way of Robin's next attack. He landed next to the table full of chemicals and narrowed his eye at the Boy Wonder, "You're right." he replied, his voice cold and calculating once again, "I'll focus on killing you first."

* * *

_Slade and Robin. _

_

* * *

  
_

"We'll see." Robin grit his teeth as he hurled four exploding disks at Slade, who pulled an extending staff out and knocked them all aside. They hit various parts of the large room, exploding and raining debris everywhere. Raven pulled up a shield to protect herself and Tara.

Robin charged, pulling out his own staff.

The two came together with dual shouts of anger.

_Master and Apprentice._

_

* * *

  
_

_Donna Troy. Warrior_

_

* * *

  
_

With an air of finality, Troia crushed the last of the laser cannons Intergang had been using to blow apart the main shopping district of Jump City. There hadn't been very many of them, leading her to suspect that they hadn't been fully committed to taking a piece of the criminal trade in Jump, but she also couldn't shake the feeling that there was something else going on that she couldn't put her finger on.

"What's Slade up to?" she muttered as her T-Comp buzzed. She pulled it out and flipped it open, listening as a message came through.

_"This is Raven with a priority alert. Robin and I are engaging Slade, and we need help. If any Titans can hear me, come to my location as soon as possible." _

The message began to repeat itself over and over, and Troia's blood ran cold. If Raven had pre-recorded a message to send out a distress call, she and Robin must have been walking into a fight they didn't think they could handle on their own.

"Damnit." she said out loud. As police cars started to pull up to assist with the rounding up of the Intergang members, she exploded from the ground and into the air, leaving buckled pavement where she'd been standing and shaking buildings that happened to be near her flight path.

* * *

_Speedy and Beast Boy. _

_

* * *

  
_

"Gar!" Speedy shouted as he back peddled away from the swiping claws of a panther, "Stop it! Talk to me!"

The changeling didn't revert to his humanoid form so he could talk though. Instead, he transformed into an elephant and let his weight collapse the floor they were standing on.

Speedy shouted in alarm as the floor gave way and he plummeted though a shower of ruble to the level below them. Gritting his teeth, the archer tried desperately to not get crushed and managed to throw himself clear of the worst of the crumbling building just in time. As he slowly pulled himself out of a pile of plaster, shattered concrete and splintered wood, he looked left then right for Beast Boy.

As his head swung left once more, a bear claw slapped him across the face and he tumbled away and into a desk. They were in some kind of clerical room, with multiple cheep desks with cheep computers on them. As the bear came charging towards him, Speedy reached up and grabbed the LCD monitor, swinging it around and slamming the beast away from himself.

Beast Boy recovered quickly and became a tiger, ready to pounce. As he turned back to his opponent he became aware of a grunt of effort and his eyes found Speedy just in time to see the archer lifting the whole desk up and bringing it down like a huge club.

BB tried to dodge, but even his tiger reflexes weren't quite fast enough. The cheep laminate wood splintered on impact, and the desk exploded around him. The changeling reverted to his normal form and stood up out of the mess, shaking his head to get his wits back. Almost on instinct, he dodged to one side, narrowly avoiding one of Speedy's arrows. Knowing he couldn't keep up the dodging forever, he became a tortoise and let the next arrow bounce off his shell.

"BB!" Speedy tried again, even as he fired another arrow, "What the fuck, man? At least let me know if you're not being mind controlled! If you're kicking my ass because you're mad at me, or you want me to go away, just tell me!"

Beast Boy became a mouse and scampered towards Speedy, dodging arrow blasts, then he became a cat and jumped through the air. Just before he hit the archer's chest he became a horse, and let his front hooves lead the way as five hundred pounds of animal hit Speedy right in the face.

Becoming himself once more, BB crouched over the fallen Titan. In a strained voice he whispered down at Speedy, "I'm kicking your ass, Roy..." he hauled back a fist, "because I _have_ to!"

Speedy barely had time to process that cryptic remark before he was blasted into unconsciousness.

* * *

_Enemies. _

_

* * *

  
_

Nothing frightened Raven more than watching Robin and Slade fight each other.

It wasn't the skill, or the speed. It wasn't the flawless execution, or the power. It was the cold, calculating fury behind every movement they made. It was a dance of death, each man attempting to find openings where there were none to find, and each blow delivered meant to kill or cripple. Even Robin wasn't holding back.

She knew he wouldn't kill Slade. Even if he was going for killing strikes it was just to put his most dangerous foe on edge, to keep him on the defensive long enough to find an opening and exploit it.

Raven also knew it was only a matter of time until Slade won.

Robin was exhausted, running on rage alone at this point and Slade was well rested and ready for this fight. He was also using every advantage he could. He'd been making sure there was always a clear path to Tara in the fight, meaning that Robin couldn't disengage him to regroup, and Raven couldn't leave Tara's side to help her team leader. They needed help, badly.

Yanking out her T-Comp, Raven growled into it, "If there are any Titans anywhere in the world that are hearing this message and are on their way to help us fight Slade, you need to respond _right fucking now!_"

_"Don't get your leotard in a knot, Rae... I'm here." _Raven almost cried when she heard Troia's voice.

"Thank the Goddess." Raven replied, "We're in secondary storage unit at the rear of the building. Follow my signal and-"

_"Yeah, yeah. I got it." _

Raven looked mildly miffed at having been cut off, but her annoyance vanished when Troia exploded though the ceiling and hovered for a second before seeing Slade. She swooped down and punched him as he was attempting to club Robin with his staff.

Slade tumbled across the room, then flipped back up into a fighting stance. As Robin sagged a little in a moment of rest, Troia flew in at the evil mastermind, attempting to plow him into the ground with both fists in front of herself.

Slade tossed a small ball at her as she came in, and her eyes widened as she ran into it. A mess of sticky pink goo exploded around her, covering the entire upper half of her body, cutting off her air supply. The Amazon crashed into the wall behind Slade as he side stepped her, then turned on Raven and Tara.

Raven's soul-self lashed out and he was slapped back across the room. Tumbling up once again, Slade was attacked this time by Robin, coming at him from the side with a hard downward chop of his staff.

The staff was blocked by two crossed swords.

"Miss me, Robin?" Ravager asked as Slade backed away and prepared another attack.

* * *

_Ravager. Loving daughter._

_

* * *

  
_

Robin knew he was in trouble now. Raven still couldn't help, Troia was struggling to get the goo off of her self, and he was facing two of the most deadly killers in the world.

"Just another day at the office." He muttered, and twirled his staff into a defensive posture. "Come on then."

Ravager came in with a twirl of her swords, and Slade sailed over her head in a massive leap, coming down at Robin with his staff, hard. The Boy Wonder spun to the side, slapping Ravager's swords away and letting Slade's attack slam into the ground, cracking the pavement. Robin twisted and brought his own staff back around at Slade, who jerked his up to block it, knocking Robin's aside, but not a moment too soon for him to tangled it up with Ravager's swords once more as she came back at again.

Robin twisted his staff, jerking both swords from her grip. One flew across the room, but the other spun end over end right at Slade's head. He knocked it aside easily, but was distracted just long enough for Robin to spin once more and lash out with a strong kick, blasting Ravager off her feet and into a table full of lab equipment. She crashed through the glass tubes and beakers, shattering all of it and throwing strange chemicals everywhere.

Slade was on him again a moment later, and Robin was once more engaged in a furious battle. He blocked and struck as hard and as fast as he could, but it was only nine seconds before Slade found an opening in his weakened opponents defense and slammed him across the shoulder with a heavy blow.

Robin cried out and fell to the side, and Slade made to press his attack, ready to aim a killing blow at the downed Titan. Just as he made it over to him though, a stream of blue sonic energy blasted him across the room.

"Booya!" Cyborg called as he charged into the room, "The butt kicking cavalry has arrived.

"So unprofessional Victor." Slade deadpanned as he sat up from where he'd landed and aimed a multi-button remote at the robotic Titan. Pushing one of the buttons, he grinned under his mask as an explosive in the wall next to Cyborg went off, blasting him aside.

Slade was back on his feet in half a second, and Ravager was scooping up her swords at the same time. Even as she spun back to Robin she blocked his staff from where he'd recovered and leapt back in for another attack.

As the two of them began to fight in earnest, a desk wrapped in black energy flew across the room at Slade. He dodged in and looked over to see Raven, still standing in front of Tara, but with her arms spread out and her soul-self wreathing her body.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" she cried, and every piece of furniture, scrap and debris not attached to the floor rose into the air. Slade narrowed his eye as they started to fly at him. Not to be taken down so easily, he literally started to climb them, jumping from one to the other until he was twenty feet off the ground. A last flying leap took him in a direct attack line for the dark Titan, who grit her teeth and prepared to defend herself.

Cyborg jumped in from the side in a flying tackle, taking Slade right out of the air. His right arm was damaged from the explosion, so his sonic cannon was out of commission, but he was still a few hundred pounds heavier than his opponent. The two tumbled for a few feet before Slade got a foot under Cy and literally kicked him into a wall. As the cybernetic young man rolled to his feet, Slade was coming back in, this time with a long metal rod he'd picked up off the floor of the abandoned factory.

Cyborg screamed as Slade drove the rod though him like a pike, pinning him to the wall.

"Cyborg!" Raven screamed, "Are you-?"

"Gra! I'm fine! Take him _down_, Raven!"

"Very well." Raven lifted off the ground and the air around her crackled with power, "Azarath, Metrion-"

Slade was upon her then, pulling back a fist to punch her hard enough to shatter her unprotected ribs. He was a split second from throwing that punch when suddenly Tara was on his back, her thumb digging into his good eye, and her other hand digging her nails into the side of his neck.

"I don't think so, asshole!"

"Zinthos!" Raven shouted. Slade jerked his head away from Tara, and grabbed her off his back. He literally hurled her into Raven, even as a huge chunk of the ceiling tore free and fell directly at him. He managed to dodge to the side just as it hit the ground, and the debris it kicked up flew everywhere, hitting everyone.

Cyborg had just been about to call Starfire to request more backup when the wreckage hit. His arm was thrown wide and the small camera in it that normally displayed his face on the com screens was pointed out at the battle as a whole from a wide angle. He shouted, "Star! We… help!"

* * *

_Starfire. Lover, friend…_

_

* * *

  
_

Starfire watched in terror as Slade picked himself up and walked three steps before stooping down and lifting his sword. He walked over to where Ravager was standing up from where she and Robin had been knocked down when the ceiling caved in.

As the two turned on Robin, orange and red fire burst up around the Tameranian as he eyes widened even more.

* * *

A split second later, the side of Titans Tower exploded and a fiery streak burned across the sky towards the desert on the east side of Jump City.

* * *

…_Warrior._

_

* * *

  
_

Ravager raised her swords, "It's over, Robin."

"You fought well, but I'm afraid our time as enemies is at an end." Slade raised his own sword, "Goodbye, Apprentice."

Robin had only managed to roll up to his hands and knees and was watching the blood drip from his nose and mouth as he grimaced. There had to be something else. There was always something else. But he was exhausted, and he couldn't even lift his hand for a proper defense. He was wounded, bleeding and didn't have the strength to keep fighting.

Slade brought his sword down.

The wall exploded before it could reach its target.

Starfire rammed into Slade with the force of a pickup truck at high speed. He shouted in pain and alarm as he was once again thrown across the room. Ravager spun her swords down at the alien princess, but Star simply turned on her, burning with enough power to deflect the sword swipes.

She growled out in a terrifying voice, "You will NOT hurt Robin."

Ravager sheathed her swords and threw a punch at Starfire, but her fist was caught. Star growled out again, "You will not hurt my friends, and you will not hurt me."

Leaning forward, the heat of her power making Ravager's clothes smoke, she spoke in a clear, harsh voice, "You have become cruel and twisted, Rose Wilson." Ravager looked frightened as Starfire growled out her last epitaph, "You… are a bitch."

Starfire hurled Rose across the large room, directly at her father. Slade was on his feet again, and amazingly still in good enough shape to catch her. He glared at the burning alien girl, his one eye narrowing before he spoke to the room at large, "Once more, Titans, you prove to be a great annoyance. We will meet again soon." With that, he lifted his remote up and pushed a master button.

As the explosives started going off all around the walls, Starfire scooped up Robin and flew over to free Cyborg. Raven was already helping Troia to get the goo off of her mouth so she could breath, and as the building started to come down, she wrapped herself, the Amazon and Tara in a wave of shadow, teleporting away.

As Star flew from the collapsing building, she glanced back and saw Ravager and Slade fleeing into the night.

* * *

_Jinx. A Titan._

_

* * *

  
_

"Everyone just calm down!" Jinx shouted as her men started to take sides. They were dived on if they should execute the man who had gotten their friends killed, or if they should drag him back to the rest of the gang and take a larger vote.

"We should cap him now." One of the Bangers said. "We need to set an example."

"No, we should let everyone have a say." One of the Muerto replied, "We need to start changing now that Jinx is in charge."

"He's gotta die." Another of the Mexicans said, and there was a murmur of assent from most of the bangers present.

Jinx shoved her way into the middle of all of them, "Just hold on!" she shouted, pink energy crackling around her, "If you guys are so gung ho about becoming murderers then go right ahead! But think about it first!"

They all looked at each other as she continued, "You want to just shoot a man in cold blood? Execute him with no honor or second chance? Fine. Which one of you is gonna do it, huh? Tell me that."

They all looked at each other, then one of the former East End Rollers stepped forward, "I'll do it." He said, his eyes hard, "TiSean was right. We need to set an example." He aimed his gun at the man's head.

"No." one of the others shook his head, "Come on guys… he fucked up, but he's just a hot headed kid. Let's just cut him loose. He can go home… but we can't have him fucking up like this again."

"Naw, kill him."

"No dude! Let the kid go!"

"We should just take care of him! He'll just sneak back, the bitch!"

"We should listen to Jinx!"

"Fuck her! She's a fuckin' Titan!"

"She's in charge now!"

"Just shoot the kid!"

"Do it! DO IT!"

"The rest of the gang needs a vote!"

"We can't let him talk to them! He'll just get them killed too!"

Jinx narrowed her eyes. She wasn't in control anymore. They were too far into their bloodlust and their anger. She closed her eyes briefly and turned her face up to the sky. "Oh, Dick…" she whispered, "I'm so sorry…"

"Come on, guys!" one of the Muerto yelled, "Listen-"

BLAM!

The young man who had incited the other gang members to leave cover and fire on the Odessa, getting some of them killed in the process, fell to the side, his head blown open like a melon.

All eyes turned to Jinx where she stood with her .45 still smoking. She glared around at all of them, "I'm in charge, you stupid mother fuckers. No one does shit unless I say so, got it?"

As they all nodded, some of them glanced at the corpse of the man they'd been arguing over. The edged away as Jinx holstered her gun.

"Take up defensive points on this street." She ordered, "The Odessa will probably be back soon."

* * *

_Jennifer Wrangler._

_Murderer._

_

* * *

  
_

_Speedy. A Titan. _

_

* * *

  
_

Slowly, ever so slowly, Speedy became aware of his surroundings. He sat up, feeling something shifting inside his face as he did.

Beast Boy had broken his nose.

Shaking his head to get his focus back, the archer looked around. He was in an ally not far from the Odessa headquarters, his weapons still on him, and his T-Comp still in its pouch. Standing up stiffly, he walked to the mouth of the ally and looked up at the Charmichael Building.

Smoke billowed from several broken windows, and fire crews were working to control the blaze that engulfed half the building. Speedy looked on with wide eyes as police loaded mobster after mobster into the backs of paddy wagons, and forensics officers looked over four filing cabinets that had been placed in the street with a hand painted sign on top of them that read, "Evidence for the D.A."

"BB…" Speedy whispered, "Whatever tunnel you've got yourself crawling down, the light at the end looks to be an oncoming train…"

As he turned and limped off into the night, a slim figure wearing a green kimono and a white cat face mask watched him go from a nearby rooftop.

Cheshire narrowed her eyes behind her mask, "I've got something for you, Roy." She whispered, then she too melted into the shadows and was gone.

* * *

_Roy Harper and Jade Nguyen. Former lovers._

_

* * *

  
_

Finally free of the goop that had been restricting her breathing, Troia stepped up next to where Robin was being healed by Raven, "Well, I was good for about nothing back there."

"We all got taken out like chumps the first time we fought Slade, Donna." He shook his head, "Unless you know what to expect from him, he's just like that."

She snorted and shook her head as she turned and walked away in a frustrated manner. Raven lowered her hands and took a deep, shaking breath, "She's upset with herself Robin. Try not to be a jerk."

"I won't. I've learned my lesson about how to treat the team." He shook his head as he stood up, "I'm still really stiff."

"I've done all I can for now." Raven replied, "I'm exhausted. I need to rest before I can do any more healing."

"Then rest." Robin rolled his shoulders, "I'll just-" his T-Comp bleeping cut him off. He pulled it out and opened it. "Robin here."

_"Hey! Robbie!"_ He blinked down at the image of a red haired teen with a yellow mask, _"It's been what? A year?"_

"Wally?"

_"Yeah! Hey, you look like crap."_

"Just fought Slade. What're you doing here?"

_"Starfire put out a priority one alert for help. I was busy in Keystone for a little while but I got here as soon as I could. I've already rounded up Hotspot and Herald too. Argent is one her way, and Titans East is sending Aqualad. He'll be here in an hour."_

Robin closed his eyes, "Thank God. I'll be out to give orders in a little bit. Just let me-"

_"No can do, Dick."_ Kid Flash shook his head, _"You're beat. We'll take it from here."_

"Uh, Wally? There's still a gang war going on, and-"

_"Nope, it's over."_

"What?" Robin looked confused.

_"Well, mostly. Someone took out the Odessa mob about fifteen minutes ago, the Mafia is pulling back, and Jinx has the East End on lockdown. When did she go back to being a bad guy?"_

"She's working for me." Robin replied, "How do you know all of this?"

_"I stopped in at the Tower and ran through the city status reports. Nice hole in the wall by the way."_

Robin looked over to where Starfire was talking softly to Tara, "Yeah, just a little redecorating going on."

_"Whatever. Look, let the little team I've put together take things from here. It's mostly just cleanup now."_ Kid Flash's eyes softened, _"You guys ran a hard race, Dick, and you won. Pass the baton for now."_

Robin sighed and nodded, "Okay. And thank you Wally. You always come when we really need you."

_"It's what friends are for, Dick. See you soon." _

As he signed off, Robin flipped his communicator shut. With a much larger sigh, he looked back over at Starfire. From next to him, Raven stiffened.

"Dick, I don't know if now is the best time to-"

"No." he shook his head, "Things need to be said."

Slowly, Raven nodded. She raised her voice, "Donna? Tara? I was wondering if you could give me a hand with Cyborg. He's still a little banged up."

_"I can handle it!" _

Raven rolled her eyes, "You have a hole straight though you, Vic. Let us help."

As the three girls trooped over to hold down/repair Cy, Robin was left with Starfire, a distance between them that neither moved to close. A small eternity passed, but eventually, Robin opened his arms with a sigh. Starfire walked over and wrapped her arms around him, letting him embrace her as well.

After a few moments, they separated and Robin reached up and pulled off his mask, "I told you… after things were over, no more secrets."

"Yes." Star nodded, "It is time to do the clearing of the air."

Robin swallowed hard. He looked away, "I'm not proud of the things I've done, Kori… or the way I've acted. I've treated the team with disrespect and dishonesty… but more then that I've lied to you… and betrayed the trust you placed in me."

"I am just as guilty of betraying you as well." Star replied miserably.

Robin looked back at her and their eyes locked. They spoke in unison, both with grave and serious voices.

"I cheated on you."

Both of them blinked. Robin shook his head and looked at her sideways. Starfire's mouth dropped open and she pointed at him in confusion.

"What-?" he said.

"Who-?" she spoke at the same time.

"Wha-"

"Um…"

"Yeah, this is awkward." Robin rubbed the back of his head. After a moment he continued, "Uh… who…"

Star swallowed hard, "Gregory Holt," she answered, "Red-X."

Robin closed his eyes, reined in his anger and opened them again, "Was it because I was being such a jerk?"

"Partly." Starfire looked away, "Mostly I was just… I thought I loved him, but as it turned out… I couldn't love him."

"Why not?" Robin laughed bitterly.

Star looked up, "Because he was not you."

Robin nodded after a moment, "I'm sorry he died."

"Gregory's death is just another crime that we will make Slade pay for… dearly."

Robin nodded. "We'll recover his body soon. I'll get someone on it-"

"Richard?" Star asked.

He looked up. Tears were streaming down her face, "Who was it?"

Robin closed his eye again and looked down. After a moment, he opened them again and looked back up, tears in his own eyes, "Jenny."

Star gasped. The sharp intake of breath stabbed at Robin's heart, but not as much as when she turned away from him and clenched her fists at her sides, "I told her about myself and Gregory… I told her and she consoled me by telling me she had done the cheating before as well… but it was with you… she… lied to me, and-"

"Kori." Robin's voice was firm. She turned back, shaking as sobs began to wrack her body, "If you have to be angry, be angry with me. I had the power to stop my affair with Jenny whenever I wanted to… and I kept going back. For two months."

Starfire continued to cry as he spoke on, "She was scared… alone, lonely… and we'd both gone through similar experiences. I comforted her… and in turn, she comforted me. When things started going to far…" he trailed off, the resolve in his voice failing, "I don't know… she and I… we connected… differently than you and I do. I don't know if…" he paused, "No, I did love her. I _do_ love her."

Starfire let out a broken cry of anguish and started to turn away again. Robin caught her shoulder with one hand and pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her as she cried into his chest, "But I love you more, Kori. I ended it because I realized that even though I care for her, it's not like what I feel for you. Kori, I _love_ you. I'd _die_ for you. And I realized that without you… there's nothing. Not even Jenny could fill the hole that would leave in my heart. You… Kori, you're the only one now. Forever."

He stepped back and looked down at her vulnerable eyes, "Even if you want to end it now… and I won't blame you if you do… Kori… my Starfire… there couldn't be anyone else for me… not ever."

She smiled though her tears at him, "Richard… I love you. We will continued to be together, but… we will have to start fresh. We've broken each other's trust… and it will take time for us to rebuild that."

He nodded, "Thank you… for trying to understand."

She nodded, "I wish to be alone right now."

"That's fine… you look like you're in fighting shape again."

She shook her head, "I think we should leave the city to our newly arrived allies. I wish to ponder things in solitude for a time."

Robin nodded, "That's fine. I'll see you back at the Tower… we can talk some more latter."

"I would like that." Star nodded, then lifted off the ground. Before she flew away, she leaned down and pressed her lips to his. Both of them poured every last ounce of love and longing into the kiss as they could before she pulled back and flew up into the night.

* * *

_Robin and Starfire. _

_Lovers. _

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Beast Boy stood at the corner of a building looking out over the East End and the fires that were being put out. Phase one of his plan had gone mostly smoothly with the small speed bump that was Speedy, but all in all it wasn't bad.

"I'll have to lay low for awhile." He muttered. The next part of his plan would be a little harder, but he had faith he'd be able to pull it off with enough hard work and determination.

As he pondered the best way to go about it, he changed into a hawk and began to sweep the East End, looking for any more gangsters he could frighten into joining Jinx's new gang.

* * *

_Garfield Logan. Former Titan._

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_Starfire and Jinx._

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Jinx looked over the street as he men were cleaning rubble from a building that the Odessa had hit with grenades. Rescue efforts were slow getting to this part of town, so her new unified gang was beginning to do clean up on their own. With any luck, by the time the sun rose she'd be in charge of every gang banger in the East End.

As she turned to head up the block to confer with Jose, a green flash settled in front of her. Jinx stared with wide eyes at Starfire, who looked back with a tear streaked face and a harsh glare.

"Oh." Jinx said after a moment, "He told you."

Starfire didn't reply. She simply raised a hand and slapped Jinx across the face. She didn't use her full strength, and she didn't utter a single word. She dropped her hand back to her side and Jinx slowly moved her head back to where she was staring at her friend.

"Kori… I'm sorry. I really, really am."

Starfire again didn't reply. She just lifted off the ground and flew up into the sky.

Jinx sighed and rubbed the red mark on her cheek. "That could have gone a lot worse." She muttered, then continued on her way to meet Jose.

* * *

_Enemies._

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Becka jerked awake as her cell phone rang. She looked around in a daze as she tried to remember where she was, until she finally placed herself in her own living room. Hanna was leaned against her on the sofa, now waking up as well.

"What the hell…?" Hanna muttered.

"Someone's calling…" Becka checked her phone, "It's Kori." She flipped the device open and put it on speaker, "Star? What's going on?"

_"The gang war has ended."_ Came Star's reply, _"I am sorry to say that we have still not located Garfield, but I checked the location of his signal, and found his tracking devices. It appears he took them off willingly."_

"What does that mean?" Hanna asked, "Kori, where is he?"

_"I do not know. Though wherever he is…"_ she paused, _"it seems he does not wish to be found."_

"But…" Hanna was at a loss, "How…"

_"Hanna, I am truly sorry. I do not know what to tell you about Beast Boy… but… may I… come see you? I feel I need female companions to speak to about… myself and Robin. We… spoke with one another and both… admitted some things."_ She sounded sheepish.

Becka spoke, "Yeah, come on over… we could use a first hand account of what went down the past few days anyway."

Hanna sniffed once, and nodded, "Yeah… please come over."

_"I shall be there in ten minutes." _Starfire replied. _"See you soon."_

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_Starfire. A good friend._

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Raven stepped into the Tower's medical bay and looked around, "Roy? Where are you?"

"Over here." Came the reply and she walked around a corner to see him bent over a sink, shirtless, with blood dripping off his face.

She gasped and rushed over, "What the hell happened to you?"

"Honestly?" he glanced at her, "Beast Boy happened. He broke my nose."

"What? Why? Did you set it yourself?"

"I'm just as lost as you, I have no idea, and yes… I set my nose myself."

Raven shook her head, "Tell me everything. Hanna will want to know."

"Sure… just as soon as the bleeding stops."

Raven sighed. She was so drained, but she couldn't let her boyfriend stand there and bleed all night. She reached out a hand and began to heal his face.

As soon as the bleeding slowed and stopped, Speedy reached up and took her hand. "Rest, Raven. I'll live until you've recovered your strength."

She nodded and sagged against him, "Kid Flash brought a team in… they're cleaning up the city as we speak. Victor was damaged, so he's in his lab fixing himself, Kori and Dick had a talk and now she's off who knows where, Jenny is the new gang leader of the East End, Donna is recovering from oxygen deprivation, and Gar is still MIA. We're a sorry bunch aren't we?"

Speedy chuckled, "It was a hard night. How's Tara?"

"She's okay. Robin is taking her home now."

"Good… Slade and Ravager?"

"They got away."

"Shitty." Speedy hugged her tighter, "Let's not talk about it anymore."

"Best idea I've heard in days." Raven snuggled into him some more, "Let's go to bed."

* * *

_Raven and Speedy. Lovers, friends._

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_Robin and Tara. Kindred spirits._

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"So why are you taking me home?" Tara asked.

Robin sat in the driver's seat of the T-Car, having borrowed it from Cyborg, who had been teleported back to the Tower by Raven, "Would you rather I had left you in the East End by yourself?"

"No, I mean, why you?"

"Because I owe you… you found Slade for us."

"But we didn't get him! In fact, he kind of kicked all of our asses."

"We… our… you're talking like a Titan now," he grinned over at her.

"Well… yeah! I did take part in the mission you know!"

"You did. Thank you for being so brave."

"It'll be good to get home…" Tara leaned back and closed her eyes.

"Hopefully there was no damage to your building. There was a skirmish between the Odessa and the Mafia near there that hit a few of the apartments in the area." Robin turned onto another street.

"Really?" Tara sighed, "My parents must be freaking out."

"Most likely." Robin chuckled. His mirth faded as he spoke again, "Were you tempted? To get your powers back?" he paused and took a breath, then plunged forward, "To become his apprentice again?"

Tara looked at him sideways, then nodded, "A little… even if it would have meant forgetting… I hesitated."

Robin nodded, "Want to know a secret?"

"What?"

"Sometimes, I hesitate too. Slade and I are so alike… sometimes I think we might know each other better than anyone else in the world…"

Tara nodded, "But you don't really consider it do you? You just…" she trailed off, then they both spoke together,

"You just know better."

They looked at each other, then burst out laughing. After a moment, Tara calmed down. "Hey, does this think have a phone? I lost my cell when the roof caved in."

"Your com works like a cell on function seven." Robin noted.

"Oh… yeah." Tara grinned, then pulled it out. She flipped it open and began to set up a call.

"Who are you calling?"

"My parents. Just to let them know I'm okay."

Robin nodded and continued to drive. Tara's come rang, and picked up. He was just about to tell her how to turn it off speaker when a chilling voice came over the connection.

"Hello, Tara."

"Ravager." Tara whispered, "How are you on my Dad's cell phone?"

"Oh, your mommy and daddy are right here. Say hi, mom and dad!"

"Tara?" a man's voice came over the connection and Robin knew they were on speaker as well, "Whatever happens, it's not your fault, okay? We made the deal with Slade years ago and we know what the consequences might be- oof!"

"Shut up." Ravager said.

"Robin…" Tara whispered, "Drive faster."

Robin didn't reply. He just put his foot down and increased speed, changing his course to track to the location of Tara's call.

"Tara… you know, you pissed me off pretty badly tonight…"

"Rose…" Tara tried to keep her voice level, "My parents have nothing to do with this… didn't Slade give me to them? Do you really think he'll want you to hurt them?"

"I think Daddy will be exceptionally proud of the way I've found to hurt you… you and the rest of the Titans."

"Tara's not a Titan, Rose." Robin spoke up, "Just leave her parents alone and get out of there. I promise I won't come after you… just leave."

"Let me think… no." Ravager sounded angry now, "You humiliated me, Robin. You and Tara both. And you humiliated my father, and I can't forgive that. You've set our plans back, so now you pay the price. If you interfere again… well, maybe it'll be one of Raven's little friends that I put a bullet in next!"

"Rose!" Tara shouted, "Don't!"

Four gun shots echoed through the connection. Then there was a thump, as if Ravager had dropped the phone. They heard her walking away as she said, "See you later, Tara."

"MOM!" Tara screamed, "DAD!"

Robin's eyes didn't leave the road. "Not again." He muttered.

* * *

_A young boy kneeling in his parent's blood in a dark ally outside a move theater._

_A young boy kneeling in his parent's blood in the center ring of a circus._

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"No… not again…"

The T-Car screeched to a halt outside the apartment building Tara's parents lived in, and she was throwing the door open and rushing out before they were fully stopped. As she ran for the door, Robin jumped out of the car and rushed after her.

"Tara!" he shouted as she unlocked the door and ran up the steps, "Tara! Stop!"

"No! There's still time! They might not be-!"

"Tara!" Robin was right behind her, "You have to believe… it wasn't your fault… you didn't do this…"  
"NO!" Tara rushed down the second floor hall way, and burst though the only open door, which looked as if it had been forced, "No, they can't be… they're not…"

She trailed off when she saw the bodies, and hurled herself at them, fingers desperately searching for a pulse that wasn't there, blue eyes searching glassy ones that stared, never to blink again, at the ceiling.

"They can't be… they can't be…" Tara was starting to hyperventilate.

"Tara… come on." Robin pulled her way from the bodies, "The police are on their way…"

"I… I…"

"I've got you Tara, it's okay…"

* * *

_Dick Grayson and Tara Markov. _

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Tears stung Robin's eyes, "I've got you…"

* * *

_Orphans._

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"He cheated on you?" Becka looked angry and shocked at the same time.

"You cheated on him?" Ami looked mildly scandalized.

* * *

_The 2__nd__ Floor Girls. Best friends._

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Starfire nodded, "It is a… strange situation… while his infidelity runs much deeper than mine, I cannot become truly angry at him because at least his cheating was done from a sense of love… while mine was simply lust and revenge."

"I think I saw this on a soap opera once…" Ginger shook her head, "If your sister who's in a coma wakes up tomorrow and tells you she slept with your step dad and caused your parents divorce then you'll be all set."

Star looked confused, "My sister is not in a coma… she is simply banished to the far reaches of the galaxy for attempting to conquer our homeworld."

Janice arched an eyebrow, "Your sister is banished?"

"Yes." Star nodded, "I banished her when I was briefly queen of Tamaran."

"Um…" Becka shook her head, "Getting back on topic, Kori… why?"

"We were having problems… things simply went to far… on all fronts."

Hanna sat next to her friend and rubbed her back, "It'll all work out, Kori. You and Dick are made for each other. Things'll come around."

Ginger shook her head, "In my book if a guy cheats on you with one of your friends, you dump him."

"No!" Star shook her head, her red hair flying, "I cannot simply-" a sharp beeping cut her off. She automatically yanked her communicator out and flipped it open.

"I've never heard Gar's make that noise before…" Hanna started at the com and Star read something on it.

"It is a priority one alert… we only use them in extreme emergencies…" she trailed off.

"What's wrong?" Hanna demanded, "Is it Gar? Is he okay?"

"It is Tara…" Star closed her eyes, "Ravager has murdered her parents."

"What?" the color drained from Ami's face.

"X'hal… I must go. Robin will want me there to… I do not know. Tara needs me now… I am sorry…" she stood up, "Hanna I will give you any information on Garfield as soon as we get it. Stay safe, friends."

With that, Star flew to the nearest window, opened it, and flew out.

The girls sat with wide eyes, staring at each other for several minutes.

* * *

Three doors opened up in the hallway of Titans Tower. Cyborg, a rough patch over his midsection, stepped out of one, a look of panic on his face, and Troia, dressed in shorts and a tank top rushed out of another. Raven stepped out of the one furthest down the hall, wearing only a men's t-shirt, and Speedy came out after her, tying up his pajama bottoms.

Cyborg spoke first, "Did you get the-"

"Yeah, we got it." Speedy cut him off, "Robin didn't request backup from us, so Rose is probably long gone, but one of us should go…"

"I'll do it." Troia raised a hand, "I'm least injured and most rested. I'll get you more details when I have them."

Raven sighed, "If I hadn't brought her back into this… if I'd just left her alone…"

"Don't." Cyborg cut her off, and Speedy nodded, putting a hand on her shoulder, "Ravager did this, not you. And we'll get her. Her and Slade."

Troia nodded, "We'll get 'em alright." She sounded fierce, "We'll get 'em and we'll nail their asses to a _wall_."

"Maybe Tara should come stay at the Tower for awhile…" Raven muttered, "Donna, ask Dick about it."

"Are you sure? A non-Titan has never stayed at the Tower before now-" Cyborg started, but Raven cut him off.

"After what she did for us tonight?" she shook her head, "As far as I'm concerned, Tara _is_ a Titan."

After a moment, the other three Titans nodded. "Yeah, alright." Cy looked down the hall at the door to Terra's old room, "And the Titan's look after their own."

* * *

_The Teen Titans. Family._

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_Deathstroke and Ravager. Father and daughter._

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Ravager grinned at her father, "It was easy. They'll think twice before screwing with us again!"

Slade stared back, "You… you did what?"

The two of them were standing the hallway of a well appointed house, just outside the city limits, one of the many safe houses Slade had set up. They were both still in their combat gear, and had just reconvened at the house.

"I…" Ravager's confidence faltered a little, "I killed Tara's parents. To get the point across. You told me to strike hard, and strike first. Ruthlessness is a tool. We should use it to strike our opponents where it hurts the most. That's what you said!"

Slade surged forward and grabbed her by the throat, "I also said that you were to follow my orders _to the letter_!" he shouted, "I didn't tell you to kill those people! They were useful! They watched over Tara for me when I couldn't! Why, Rose? Why did you do it?"

"I thought you would be proud?" she choked out, and he shoved her away from himself.

"Proud? That you destroyed a plan I had carefully set up? A plan that not even Robin could figure out? Those people were in place to protect Tara!"

"So? What, do you love her more than me now? Is that it? Would you rather have her as a daughter? Would you rather have her as your apprentice?"

Slade back handed his daughter across the face. She staggered back as he growled at her, "I thought you'd be different, Rose. I thought of all my apprentices, you'd be the one to succeed because you were most like me. But I was wrong… you failed too. You're nothing like me."

Slade turned on his heal and started to walk away. Ravager growled low in her throat, blood trickling from the side of her mouth, "No, Daddy…" she lunged forward and grabbed him, yanking a knife from a sheath on his leg, "I'm JUST like you!"

Slade watched in horror as Rose brought the knife up and stabbed it into her own left eye. She twisted it and ripped down, gouging he own eyeball out, leaving a bloody hole where it had been. She screamed and turned her face to him with a look of pure fury.

* * *

_Slade and Rose Wilson._

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"JUST LIKE YOU!"

* * *

_Like Father, like daughter._

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END OF PART ONE

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Closing Notes – Part One? Oh, yeah, did I forget to mention that? The next part will be just as long, if not longer than the first. There's only two. So, while REMR had 17 chapters (Right? I can't remember…) This one will have around 24 or 25. That's including all the Asides.

But hey, tons of material to cover yet, right? How will Robin and Star work things out? What the hell is Tara going to do? Will the 2nd Floor Girls ever stop having so much drama? What are Slade and Rose up to? What about Shimmer and her 'band of friends' out in L.A.? Is Jinx a bad girl or a good girl now? And just what in the name of God is Beast Boy up to?

All questions answered in Ties That Bind – Part Two!

Now…. Review! Seriously, I got one review for the last chapter of JCS. You guys can do better than that! I need to know you're still reading, so at least drop a line and say hey. Thanks everyone!


	13. Aside 3: Aftermath Intermission

Ties That Bind

A Teen Titans Fan Fiction by Jacob McDonald

Opening Notes – An aside! And Janice actually uses the word, "Ya'll!" For like, the second time ever! Note that I'm on spring break right now so it's the only reason I had time to do this. But take this as a good faith chapter... I will finish this story!

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Aside #3 – Aftermath – Intermission

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_One month later._

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The phone rang four times before the digital answering machine picked up. As sunlight flitted across the sunny yellow walls of the apartment, filtering though drawn shades, a concerned sounding voice echoed about the place. It only added to the sense of desperation that seemed to cling to every surface despite the brightly decorated interior.

_ "Tara?"_ Becka's voice sounded tired. She'd made this call every day for the past three weeks, _"Tara, I know you're home, and I know you're avoiding us, but I don't know _why_. You can't hide in there forever, and I think talking about it might help… come on, sweetie… pick up the phone. I… I really want to talk to you… we miss you… I miss you." _

There was a long pause, then much softer, Becka continued_, "I'm seeing Chad tonight… I just… he mentioned that you haven't been to class in a month. Tara, the world doesn't have to end just because…"_ she sighed, _"I guess… not today huh? Okay… I'll call you tomorrow. We love you, Tara, and we miss you. Just remember that, okay? Bye." _

The line went dead and the machine bleeped once.

Tara pulled the covers of her bed up tighter around her head and rolled away from the nightstand where the phone sat. She whispered to the empty apartment in a dead voice,

"I'm sorry."

* * *

Hanna opened her door at 5:45 precisely, admitting her best friend, "Hey Becka."

"Hi. Thanks again for letting me get ready over here." Becka was toting a garment bag and a large shoulder bag full of cosmetics and accessories.

The eight months pregnant Hanna motioned her in, then waddled over to the couch, where she sat down heavily. "I don't know why I sit any more," she bemoaned, "it's way too hard to get back up."

"Maybe to get off your swollen feet?"

"I don't have swollen feet, oddly." Hanna grinned, "I'm just roughly the size of a blue whale." She patted her belly, which had, in fact, grown to a rather enormous size.

"You're just carrying the baby high." Becka sat down in front of her friend after she shrugged out of her coat and ditched her bags next to the couch. Hanna wasted no time in pulling out Becka's hair tie and grabbing a brush to start her styling.

After a several minutes of silence, Hanna finally spoke again, "Did Tara…?"

"No, not today. Um… did Gar…?"

Hanna paused only briefly in her brushing, "No," she finally replied, "not today."

* * *

"What're we doin' fer Halla'ween this year?" Janice asked her roommate and lover as they sat doing homework that evening.

"Party at Becka's." Ami replied. She frowned at the math problem she was doing, then pulled her notes towards herself, scanning them closely to find her error.

Janice was largely ignoring her anatomy homework, "Isn't her date with Chad ta'night?"

"Yes." Ami rolled her eyes before going back to her notes, "Finally. They've been putting it off and rescheduling the stupid thing since the gang war."

Janice smiled softly at her lover, "They've both been pretty busy, what with Becka doin' all the fund rasin' for the relief fund for the victims of th' gang war, and Chad workin' part time for his dad…"

"Jan, do you know how long you have to go to school to get an MD? Seriously, do you ever do your home work?"

Janice waved her off, "Ah'm acin' every class Ah've got, sugar. How are ya'll doin'?"

Ami growled at her, "Stupid… smart… bitch…"

Janice laughed.

* * *

Becka twisted to one side, then the other, inspecting herself in the full length mirror in Hanna's bedroom.

She was wearing the same skirt she'd worn the day Beast Boy had been shot the summer before; it was just past her knees, and swirled through with a red and orange pattern that gave it a summery feel, even though the fall was in full swing. Still, central California didn't really have much variance in seasons, so even though it was October, the sun was still shining brightly and the day was around seventy-six degrees.

Her top was a curve hugging black button down, short sleeved and undone at the top two buttons and the bottom one. Just a hint of her cleavage was peaking at the top, enough to tease, but not enough to flirt. Her black kitten heals made her an inch taller, which would bring her up to Chad's chin, and her hair was styled in a flattering wavy softness that kept falling in her face and she kept pushing back.

"Why did you do my hair like this?" she demanded of Hanna, who was sipping ice water and checking her e-mail on her laptop while she lounged on the bed.

"So that you'll have to keep reaching up and touching your own face. You're really pretty, Becka, and it makes you seem a little more shy and vulnerable when you do it, even if you're not. Trust me, it'll drive Chad crazy seeing you like this."

"I don't want to drive him crazy! I just want to be friends again!" Becka turned and gave Hanna a frustrated look.

"Sure." The blonde girl rolled her eyes, "That's why we've been making you up for the past hour. So you can be friends again."

Becka growled at her friend, then turned to the dresser and grabbed her necklace off of it and put it on, along with her earrings and the two rings she wore on her right ring finger (a birthstone ring from her mother) and her left middle finger (a friendship ring that Hanna had the matching twin to.)

"Why the silver necklace and earrings?" Hanna questioned, "Both your rings are yellow gold."

Becka paused in her primping and lowered her right hand to her throat, "The earrings match the necklace and the necklace… Cassie gave it to me." She clutched the Mark of Odin that hung about her neck, "It brings luck and protection. Or so she said."

"You were wearing it the night of the dance." Hanna replied quietly, "How much luck did we have that night?"

Becka spun back around and glared fiercely, "That bullet could have hit me, Hanna. It could have blown Chad's head off. It could have ripped through both of us… but it didn't. It hit him in the arm, and we're both still alive." She balled her hands into fists as she took a step forward, "It kept us alive. Yeah, those other kids died, but it kept us alive. Is that selfish and horrible of me? Yeah, maybe. But I don't care. I won't let my friends suffer any more because of me… I won't!" by the time she was done, Becka was shouting.

Hanna stared at her with flat, unreadable eyes. After a moment, she just nodded, then smiled a little, "You really love him don't you?"

Becka relaxed instantly and groaned, "You're never going to stop are you?"

"Becka, when you stop trying to live in denial and actually think about the things I've said, you're going to kick yourself for not just nodding your head and telling me I was right."

"Whatever." Becka rolled her eyes again.

"Whoa," came a voice from the doorway, "Wow, Becka, that's hot."

Both girls looked over with wide eyes at the pink ones staring back at them.

"Jenny?" Hanna finally managed, "What… how the hell did you get in?"

Jinx arched an eyebrow, "I have a key. You gave it to me months ago."

"Oh." Hanna blushed, "Yeah."

"What are you doing here though?" Becka was still a little in shock, "Aren't you like, the biggest gang leader in the city now?"

"Yeah, but I'm taking a break." Jinx shrugged with a grin, "Now why are you all dolled up?"

* * *

"Have fun tonight." Jinx said with a smile as Becka was walking out the door.

"But not _too_ much fun." Hanna winked.

Becka still looked mutinous, "No fun will be had. It's just dinner." She stomped out, "You two be good."

"Good really isn't my thing." Jinx grinned.

"Well I'm not going anywhere." Hanna patted her belly. "See you tomorrow Becka. I'll want details."

"Jesus Christ…" Becka flipped her friend off as she walked out the door and shut it.

"She's _so_ gonna jump his bones." Jinx laughed.

"Yeah, probably." Hanna said quietly.

Jinx looked at her, "What? What's the problem? You feeling okay?"

"I'm fine. Glowing pregnancy and all that. Still haven't heard from my boyfriend in a month and Tara's holed up in her apartment and won't talk to anyone, but other than that and one other little thing, I'm fine." Hanna turned to face Jinx with a frown.

Jinx seemed oblivious, "What's the one other little thing?" she asked as she started to turn towards the kitchen.

Hanna hauled back a hand and slapped Jinx upside the head.

"OW!" Jinx whirled back around, "What the fuck, Hanna?"

The blonde stepped forward and started to hit Jinx about the head and shoulders with her fists as she shouted, "You fucking little _bitch!_ You _stole_ Kori's boyfriend! Was it worth it to break her heart? She's like, the sweetest girl anyone on the planet knows and you fucked her boyfriend? What the shit is wrong with you Jenny? Are you stupid? Are you fucking crazy?"

Jinx had been adequately defending herself, so she wasn't too banged up as Hanna finally stopped screaming and took a step back, breathing hard. After a moment, when she was sure she wasn't going to be hit any more, Jinx lowered her arms, "I'm sorry."

"You should be saying that to-"

"I _did_ say that to Kori. She hit me too." Jinx lowered her eyes, "I can't explain what happened with Dick, okay? We… there was more than just sex. He was starting to fall for me, and…" she paused as her throat closed up. Reaching up in wonder, she swiped her eyes and was shocked to see she was crying, "Um… God… I was in love with him, wasn't I?" she shook her head. "Stupid… Selinda told me… what the fuck is wrong with me, getting attached to a guy like him when…" she looked up at Hanna, tears running down her face, "Oh my God…" she choked, "I'm sad! I actually loved him!"

Hanna looked a little concerned, "Jenny? Hey… I'm sorry I hit you okay? Did you really not know before now that you're in love with him though?"

"I'm not any more." She shook her head, "We ended it. He didn't love me enough to leave her… and yeah, that kind of still hurts, but they're meant for each other. I'm meant for the shadows and the dark and…" she trailed off.

Hanna looked really freaked out now, "Jenny? What's wrong?"

Jinx looked back up at her, "During the gang war… I killed a guy. On purpose. To make an example of him."

Hanna didn't blink, just nodded. She looked across her living room to where her ninja sword was mounted on the wall, "I killed a guy at the Valentine's Day Dance Massacre. He was threatening to rape Ginger, and I beat his head in with a pipe."

Jinx stared at her for a long moment, then sagged, "We're both horrible bitches aren't we?"

Hanna looked back and smiled weakly, "You're way worse than me. Don't lump me in with you."

Jinx grinned a watery smile, "At least I'm not a pregnant teenager."

"At least I'm not a city wide gang leader."

"At least I'm not blonde anymore!"

"At least I'm not a stupid twat licking, shit sniffing, cum gargling, gutter slut whore." Hanna winked.

Jinx laughed out loud, "You're too good at this."

* * *

"What'cha doin'?" Troia leaned on the back of Robin's chair as he typed away at the computer in the living room of Titan's Tower.

"Looking for Beast Boy." He replied as his fingers flew across the keys.

"We haven't had any decent leads on him anywhere, Dick. What are you trying to do here?"

Robin frowned, "We haven't had any leads because we haven't been looking in the right places." He pointed to a line on the screen, "A report came in last week. Assault by metahuman assailant, victim never saw the attacker, but he was beat up pretty badly. He was also wanted for three counts of selling drugs to middle school kids."

"You think it was Gar?"

"I didn't at first, but I decided to look a little deeper. The guy was beaten up and bit by something a few times, but the thing that really stuck out was this." He pointed to the screen and Troia looked up at the window he opened.

She snickered, "The cops said he had also been sprayed by a skunk?"

Robin nodded. He wasn't smiling, "He's gone off the track, Donna. This could be bad. He's a half step from needing to be taken down him self."

The older girl was quiet for a time, then took a step back, crouched down and turned his chair so he was facing her. He arched one corner of his mask at her. Donna looked at him very seriously and spoke in a low voice, "Dick… what are you planning on doing with him?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean he's Beast Boy, and you're Robin. Sure he can hide pretty well, but you're Batman's apprentice. You can't tell me you don't think you can find him if you really want to."

Robin looked away, "He wants to be left alone for now, Donna. I'll step in if I need to, but for now… he's on his own. I think… I can understand where he's coming from. He needs to sort this out by himself."

Slowly, Donna stood up and turned away from him, "Dick, I don't say this very often, so I hope you really listen hard when I say it." Glancing back over her shoulder she caught his eye before she spoke again, "I think you're wrong."

Robin was left with only his thoughts as Donna walked away.

* * *

Chad Doxon's eyes got a little wide when he saw Becka enter the restaurant. Monticello's was one of the nicer Italian restaurants in Jump, and a place both young people had been before, as both of their father's were wealthy and important people. Chad grinned to go with his wide eyes as she stopped in front of him with an eye roll of her own.

"Wow, Becka, you look… wow."

"Thanks, Chad. You don't look half bad yourself."

"I've never seen your hair this short before."

Becka found herself falling back into classic girlfriend mode without really meaning to, "Do you like it? I never liked having it so long, so I chopped four inches off as soon as I got out of school."

"It looks great. You look great."

They stared at each other for a moment, then Becka winced, "We're being way too polite, aren't we?"

"Yeah, we totally are." Chad sagged a little, "You have every right to be angry with me. I should just take the abuse like a man, huh?"

"I'm not going to abuse you." Becka sighed, "Honestly, I've missed you."

"Yeah, me too." Chad looked away, "Our table is ready. You want to go sit down?"

"Sure." Becka nodded and Chad motioned the host over.

* * *

A half hour later, the two were done with their salads and waiting on the main course. Becka waved at his right side, "How's your arm?"  
Chad flexed it once, and rubbed the bicep, "Still a little sore and stiff. Physical therapy is going well though, and they think I'll be a hundred percent in a month or two."

"That's good. What are you studying?"

"Business management." He replied, "Dad expects me to take over the company when he retires."

"I'm in Political Science." Becka grinned, "Built in good grades for having your father be a Senator."

"Heh." Chad ginned, "How's everyone else?"

"Ami and Janice are living together. Ami decided she was bi and they're dating now."

"Finally, right?" Chad grinned into his water glass as he took a sip, "I think half the guys at WJCIE thought Ami was gay for the longest time."

"She's really only into Janice." Becka grinned, "But those two have been dancing around each other for years, so yeah. Hanna is due next month, and I saw Ginger and Maggie just last week at a fund raiser. They're both doing well."

"Didn't Maggie get hurt recently?"

"She was stabbed, yeah. Cassie fixed her up."

"You mean Raven?"

"Yes, I mean Raven." Becka rolled her eyes, "You're not still weird about me being friends with the Titans are you?"

"No! Not at all!" Chad waved his hands, "I've really gotten to thinking lately about all they do for us and… well, I'm really sorry now that I ever ragged on them."

Becka smiled faintly at him, "Yeah, I guess. They're doing okay too. Starfire and Robin were on the rocks for a while, but they worked things out. Raven and Speedy are doing just fine, and the rest of them are in pretty good shape too. Things have been a little tense around the Tower since after the gang war, but they'll work everything out soon, I'm sure."

Chad grinned wolfishly, "How's that new chick doing? The tall one with the black hair?"

Becka rolled her eyes, "God! Why is every man on the planet obsessed with Donna?"

"Uh, 'cause she's hot, duh!" Chad laughed.

"Yeah, well she's also four years older than you, and a divorced single mother." Becka grinned evilly, "Does that make her still hot to you, Doxon?"

He grinned back, "What, I can't go for MILFs?"

Becka laughed out loud at that, "Oh God… I'm so telling her you said that!"

"Heh." Chad laughed too, "Well, what do you know? We can act like we're still friends."

Becka sobered up a little, "Yeah." She smiled at him and reached across the table, grabbing his hand, "I have missed you, Chad."

He turned his hand over and gripped hers, "Not as much as I've missed you."

They stared at each other until their food arrived a minute later.

* * *

"So what do you think?" Becka asked as she pursued a menu.

"Um… that you're really pretty?" Chad scratched his head.

Becka rolled her eyes, "I meant for desert, numbnuts." She used the menu to whack him in the head.

"Well, telling your date she's pretty is never a bad response to anything." Chad grinned.

Becka's good mood faltered, "Oh, so this is a date, huh?"

"Oh…" Chad looked away, "Sorry, no. Just two friends getting some dinner and catching up. How's the fund raising going?"

Becka sighed, "I'm sorry, Chad. I didn't mean for it to come out like that." She grinned weakly, "I'm having a hard time not expecting a goodnight kiss myself."

"I can give you one, if you want." Chad's smile came back.

"Uh huh. Keep dreaming." Becka stood up, "I'm going to the ladies room. You see if you can find a good desert while I'm gone."

Chad winked at her, "Going to powder your nose for your goodnight kiss?"

"Gawd, you're annoying," she said, but playfully slapped his shoulder as she walked past him.

* * *

It was a short walk to the bathrooms, and soon Becka was standing before a mirror, doing exactly what Chad had thought she'd be doing; fixing her makeup in case there was any action at the end of the night. She sighed as she reapplied her lipstick.

"I really shouldn't start anything with him again." She muttered as she turned away from the mirror.

There, standing in the corner, was Beast Boy.

"Ahhh!" Becka stumbled back and clutched her heart, "Jesus Christ on a stick, Gar! Did you have to pop out of no where? What were you, a fly?"

Beast Boy didn't smile, "Yes. I wanted to talk to you."

"Okay… I have a phone, you know."

"Yeah, but…" he looked at the ground, "Sorry, I've been keeping kind of a low profile lately, and I have a lot going on right now, so I really needed to make this a face to face."

"Okaaay." Becka picked up her purse, "Whatever all that means."

"Look Becka, I just… I…" Beast Boy looked up, his expression angry. He stared at her for a full minute before sighing and looking down again, "I just wanted you to tell Hanna that I'm okay, and I have things under control. I have to be on my own for a little longer, but I have things in motion now, so soon I should be able to come back to her."

"What about the Titans?" Becka stepped closer to him and reached out to put a hand on his shoulder, "They miss you too, Gar."

He stepped out of her reach, "I can't be a Titan any more. Tell Robin to stop looking for me, I know he has been."

Becka sighed, "Okay… first Tara, now you… how many more friends am I going to have go MIA, Gar?"

He gave her a slightly frightening look, "As many as it takes to make this city safe."

"What does that _mean_? Gar, what are you doing?"

"I'll contact you again if I need to. See you later, Becka."

Becka was left bewildered and confused as Beast Boy became a fly and zipped out of the room.

* * *

"We're having key lime pie. I already ordered." Chad frowned as Becka slid into the seat across from him, "You okay? You look pale."

"Just tired. It's been a long week."

"Yeah, I heard. You did what? Three rallies and two galas?"

"Daddy thought it'd be a good idea for me to be personally involved with all the fundraising I want to do. I'm using his name and position, but everything we're doing I'm planning. I've managed to get some of my professors to give me extra credit for all the work I'm doing, or I wouldn't be passing some of my classes."

"Wow. So your dad isn't helping at all?"

"With all the health care reform stuff going on in Washington? I'll be lucky if he comes home for Christmas."

"Man, that sucks. How's your mom?"

"Staying by his side, as usual. I swear she loves him more than me."

"Pfft." Chad waved a hand, "At least you're guessing. I KNOW my Dad loves his wife more than me. She's twenty-seven, after all, and from what I've heard walking down the hall at night to go to the bathroom, she's a screamer."

"Oh, ew." Becka gagged, "I think you just made me throw up in my mouth a little. Your dad is like, forty years old!"

"Fifty-two, actually." Chad grinned, "And if I have to suffer through this grossness, then so do you."

"Hey! Why do I have to suffer with you!"

Chad leaned forward and grinned, "Because whether you acknowledge it or not Becka, I still like you, and I'm going to treat you like I think a girlfriend of mine should be treated."

Becka would have had a witty comeback about not tormenting her if she hadn't been blushing so hard.

* * *

Forty minutes later, Becka decided that she was never betting against Hanna ever again.

Pulling back from where Chad had her pressed against the side of her Jeep, she breathed hard for a moment before putting a hand on his chest, "Stop for a second, Chad. Let me catch my breath."

Chad grinned and wiped a bit of her lipstick from the side of his mouth, "Sorry… I didn't think we'd gotten that much older since we graduated high school."

"We haven't. I just haven't had any practice making out with any dudes in the past eight months."

Chad let her stand up a bit straighter, but kept one hand on her waist, "Really? Not even once?"

"No. Why? Have you?"

"Becka, I haven't stopped thinking about you since you told me to take a walk."

"Aw. We were pining away for each other!"

"But not any more, right?" Chad sounded rather hopeful.

"Weeelllll…" Becka bit her lip, "On a provisionary basis. We should have a few more dates before we decide if we're getting back together or not."

Chad grinned wide, "The fact you're even considering it now is enough for me."

"Alright." Becka pushed him away, "Get out of here. Much as I hate to say it, I still have things to get done tonight."

"Okay, okay." Chad leaned in and kissed her once more, "I'll call you tomorrow."

"I'll answer." Becka leaned in and kissed him once more as well, "See you soon, Chad."

"Yeah, see you." Chad watched as she got in her Jeep, started it, put on her seat belt, and drove away, waving.

As she pulled out onto the main road and turned her vehicle towards the bay, she pulled out her cell and hit the number two speed dial. It rang twice before it was picked up.

_"Yes?"_ came the voice of Raven Roth.

"I'll be at the Tower in fifteen minutes. Can you let me in?"

There was a brief pause, then Raven replied, _"Yes. I'll see you soon."_

_

* * *

  
_

Becka parked her Jeep in the garage, as the door had opened for her as she pulled up to the Tower. Cyborg was there to meet her.

"How ya doin', Becka?" he smiled in a weary way.

"Been better," she smiled back at him with just as weary a grin.

"Raven's upstairs. You had dinner yet?"

"Yep."

"Too bad. I made a mean gumbo tonight." Cy motioned for her to follow him and walked to the elevator. As it started up, he looked down at her, "Have a date tonight or somethin'?"

"Yeah. With Chad." Becka smiled back at him, "We, uh… might be getting back together."

"Oh. Uh huh. So that's why you rushed right over here to see Raven right after."

Becka shook her head, "I'm not here to see Raven."

Cyborg was a little confused, "Kori? Donna?"

"No." Becka's expression faded to nothing, and she spoke with a blank look on her face, giving nothing away, "I'm here to see Robin."

* * *

"Come in." Robin called as there was a knock on his door. He put down the bird-a-rang he was fixing the folding mechanism on and looked up as Raven entered, followed by Becka. The former was in her costume, and Becka, dolled up as she was, looked a little out of place.

"What's up? Haven't seen you in a few weeks, Becka."

"Yeah. Thanks again for doing the fund raiser. People really liked seeing you there." She smiled genuinely at him.

"Not a problem. Do you need me to do another one?"

"No, I…" she looked unsure for the first time, then her resolve was back, "I saw Beast Boy tonight."

Robin sat up a little straighter, "What? Report."

The simple command seemed to come from him so naturally that Becka followed it naturally, "He dropped in on me while I was powdering my nose-"

"So she could kiss a boy she swore she was over." Raven interrupted.

Becka swatted her arm and continued as if Raven hadn't said a thing, "-and he dropped in on me. He said he knows you've been looking for him, and he wants you to stop."

"Anything else?" Robin leaned forward a little.

"He said…" Becka closed her eyes and scrunched up her forehead, trying to remember exactly, "I asked him how many friends I was going to lose, and he said, 'As many as it takes to make this city safe.'"

Raven looked up sharply at Robin, "Do you want me to find him?"

Robin contemplated what Becka had told him, "No. Not right now."

"Dick-"

"I said no, Raven." He looked up her and frowned, "We leave him alone. Something happened to him out there during the gang war, and the only way he's going to get over it and come back to us is if we let him work it out on his own."

"Like you always do?" Raven was a little snippy, "He's not you, Dick."

"You're wrong." Robin shook his head, "He's more like me than you think."

Raven started to talk again, but Becka cut her off, "From what I saw of him tonight? Dick is right. Gar was… intense. Like… uh… well, like Robin is."

"Intense." Robin rolled his eyes behind his mask, "Great. That's just how I want girls to see me."

Becka reached out and flicked his ear, making him wince, "I don't want to hear you open your mouth about any girl other than Kori for the rest of your life, do you hear me?"

Robin nodded, looking cowed, "Yes ma'am."

"Good. Cassie? Good to see you. I'll have Cy show me out. I'm sure the two of you want to argue some more." She hugged her friend, then turned and left.

Raven turned back to Robin, "So?"

"I won't change my mind on this one." Robin shook his head again.

"Yeah." Raven sagged a little, "She's grown into quite a leader."

"Yeah. But Gar… I was hoping he would too. But now…"

Raven nodded, "I know what you mean."

"How does it make you feel?"

Raven smiled weakly, "Honestly? I just want someone to give me a hug and a kiss and tell me everything's going to be alright."

Robin grinned back, "Better go find Roy then. I'm not risking any more ear flicks from Becka."

Raven nodded, "I still… that kiss…"

Robin reached out and took her hand, squeezing it once before letting it go, "I know, Raven. Me too."

Raven turned away before either of them could say anything else, and slowly walked out of the room.

For the second time that night, Robin was left with just his own thoughts, this time plagued by his own demons, running through his mind far too fast for him to keep up with.

* * *

Becka stepped into Hanna's apartment and shut the door behind her self quietly. She carefully removed her heals and padded into the living room where she found Jinx sprawled on the couch, snoring lightly.

With a slightly exasperated sigh and a smile, she grabbed one of Hanna's hand-made quilts and draped it over the pink haired girl. Jinx grunted once then rolled over and hugged the blanket to her self.

Continuing down the hall, Becka slipped into Hanna's room and found the blond haired girl sitting up in bed reading a text book. She looked up as her friend entered and motioned her over.

"Welcome back. How was it?"

"Fine. Is Jenny…?"  
"Okay? No idea. She fell asleep about an hour after you left. I didn't want to wake her." Hanna scooted over and patted the space next to her on the queen sized bed, which Becka took. "You're avoiding my question, by the way."

"Fine, fine… I kissed him, we're taking things slow, and I really think it might work out this time."

Hanna nodded, "I'm happy for you. Wish my boy would come see me…"

Becka bit her lip, "Hanna? Um… I saw Gar tonight too."

Hanna almost jumped up and shouted. She managed to control her volume so as not to wake Jinx in the next room, "What? When? How?"

"He snuck up on me while I was in the bathroom fixing my makeup. Stop freaking out, he's okay."

"Stop…? Becka, tell me everything he said."

"He said not to tell you."

"Obviously, since he's an idiot," Hanna rolled her eyes. "What else?"

"He said he has to lay low for a bit longer… something about making sure the city stays safe."

"So he's working then?"

"He's working," Becka nodded firmly.

Hanna sagged back, "Good, that's all I needed to hear." She smiled and lifted her book back up, "He's still alive, and he's still helping people. That means he'll still come back when he's done doing what he's doing."

"How can you be so sure about him?" Becka asked, "He's… a little off the reservation if you know what I mean."

Hanna shook her head, "Because I love him, and if there's one person in the whole world I believe in, it's him."

Becka smiled back, "Alright. Hey, let's get some sleep, huh?"

* * *

In a dingy hotel room on the outskirts of the city, Beast Boy sat on a bed that hadn't had new sheets in two weeks, typing at a laptop. He glanced over the info he'd entered and sighed. Things weren't going how he wanted them to. He barely had a grip on what he was doing, and everything was so hard to keep track of.

"I'm not Robin." He muttered, rubbing his eyes.

With a sigh, he went back to work.

* * *

The next day found Becka standing outside an apartment building gathering her wits about her.

Raven stood next to her, dressed in civilian clothes. She gave her friend a glance, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Becka shook her head, "No. I really don't want to do this. But we don't have a choice. She needs our help."

"Very well." Raven raised her soul self, "Here we go."

* * *

Both girls glanced around the dim apartment as they appeared, Becka shivering, "I hate your teleport."

"So you've told me. Bedroom's over there." Raven pointed, "I… don't think she'll want to see me yet. You go ahead."

Becka nodded, "Alright." She swallowed hard once, then hefted the folder she carried and walked to the bedroom door. Pushing it open, she stepped in and looked down at Tara's still form.

"Tara? It's Becka."

"I heard you when Raven dropped you in my living room. Nice B and E by the way."

"There was no breaking. I spared your door. Be thankful… I was going to get Cyborg to come kick it down."

Tara pulled the sheets over her head.

Becka rolled her eyes, "Okay, enough." She stalked over and started yanking on the bedding, "You've been mopping around here for a month, Tara. You barely eat, you don't talk to your friends, and you've missed a month of class. Time to get up."

"No!" Tara screamed, "Go away!"

"Get! UP!" Becka yelled back, and pulled extra hard, finally yanking the bedding up, but pulling Tara with it. The two girls yelped and fell back in a heap on the floor, Tara on top of Becka.

They struggled free of the sheets and stared at each other for a moment, then Becka smirked and giggled a little. Tara smiled briefly, "Okay, that was kind of funny."

"You know what's not funny though?" Becka was still smiling, "This smell. You smell like _butt_."

Tara sniffed at herself and winced. "Uh… sorry."

"Come on." Becka stood and pulled Tara to her feet. Taking a good look at her, the brunette girl frowned. Tara had always been skinny but now she looked emaciated. Her long blonde hair hung limply, greasy and stringing. Dark circles under her eyes did nothing to improve her appearance. "Alright, first order of business is a shower, then we're getting you a hamburger."

Tara smiled faintly again, "What's with the paperwork?"

Becka frowned deeper, "Applications for incompletes on your classes. It sucks that you'll have to apply for it, but at least this way you wont fail all your classes your first semester. No need to blast your GPA before you even begin."

Tara looked down at the floor, "I'm sorry," she said, "I've really dropped the ball. I just… I don't think…" a tear dropped from her face and hit the ground.

"You have every reason." Both girls turned to the doorway to see a sad looking Raven looking at them with mournful eyes, "If anyone is to blame though, Tara, it's me. I should never have let you… I mean, if I hadn't…" a tear dripped from her eye as well.

Tara shook her head, "No, Raven… Becka's right. It's time I owned my own misery. It's time to face this thing."

* * *

Three hours later, Raven and Becka stood behind a cleaned, dressed, and well-fed Tara as they stepped into a cemetery. Tara glanced back at her friends and Raven motioned her forward, "Go ahead. We'll be here if you need us."

Tara nodded and walked further into the graveyard. After a moment, she came to a small plot with two neat graves.

Two graves an anonymous donor had paid for, as Tara hadn't had the money. Robin had looked into it and determined it was most likely Slade.

Kneeling down, Tara felt the new grass beginning to grow over the plots and lowered her head as the tears started to fall again. She'd been numb and unresponsive last time she'd been here, just going through the motions and trying to keep her self together. This time, she was able to truly grieve.

"Hey Mom. Hey Dad." She whispered, "I'm okay. You told me it wasn't my fault, and I know that… I want to try and do good by you… remember all the things you taught me and not go back to how I was before I came back. I've learned my lesson now… I'm happy as Tara… I don't want to be Terra… not ever again."

* * *

"How was it?" Raven asked as the three girls strolled down the street a while later.

"Oh, you know. No life changed revelations or anything, but it helped me a little I think." Tara stretched her arms over her head. "I don't want to go home."

"Why not?" Becka asked.

"Well… I've spent a month there. I mean… that's a long time to spend in one place. I just don't want to go back. Not for a while."

Raven glanced over at her, then said in a soft voice, "You still have a room at the Tower."

"No… Terra has a room at the Tower, I-"

"We already talked about it. Robin and Cyborg and I. We'd be happy for you to come stay with us for a little while."

Tara stopped dead, and Becka and Raven stopped as well and looked at her. Becka arched an eyebrow, "You okay?"

"Could I really… I mean, it'd be okay if I…"

"Of course it would." Raven smiled gently, "As far as we're concerned, you're a Titan."

Tara looked across the street, past the row of buildings that separated them from the boardwalk and the beach, across the bay, and at the Tower. For a brief moment, she just stared with wide eyes, then she turned back to her friends.

"Alright," she said, "I'm in."

* * *

Jinx frowned as she stepped into her hideout, shutting the door behind her. Hanna had let her stay the night, and had hugged her and told her all was forgiven just before the pink haired gang leader left, but something was still nagging at her. She felt like she was forgetting something very important.

"Probably just paranoid," she muttered as she pulled out her cell phone. She used her T-Comp only for Titan business, preferring to keep her gang activities separate from Robin's direct oversight. If she was going to clean up the East End she was going to do it her way.

As she took off her jacket and slung it over a chair at the table she used to eat at, she frowned. Loosening the strap that held her shoulder holster in place, she shrugged her gun off as well and dropped it on the table. It had been great to see the girls, but she knew now that hanging out with them was going to be a thing of the past fairly soon. Her operation was expanding, and she had more men and women under her command then even Robin suspected.

It was only a matter of time before she had firm sway over all the organized crime in the city.

Sighing as she sat down heavily on her bed, she glanced at the door to her workout room.

Sitting bolt upright, all of her senses went on high alert. The door was open, and she never left it open if she was gone.

Silently padding over to her table once again, she drew her pistol and started for the door. She made it there and paused only briefly before flinging it open and aiming inside. A target presented itself and she pointed the gun at it in a heartbeat, shouting out, "Don't more or I'll turn your head into a cannon!"

It took another full second for her brain to catch up to her actions and she gasped and lowered her weapon right away. There, sitting on her weight bench reading a manga of some sort, was Mikron O'Jeneus.

"Gizmo," she said, sagging against the doorframe, "What the hell are you doing here?"

The small young man lowered he manga, "Getting threatened by a crazy bitch with a gun, apparently."

"Giz, seriously… did Selinda send you?"

"Of course she did. Mammoth and I are down in L.A. with her now. We're putting a crew together for a few pretty big jobs, and she wants you in."

"I told her I was done. I'm a Titan now. And you need to get out of here before I take you out and turn you in to Robin."

"Whatever. You're a gang leader now, aren't you?" Gizmo hopped off the bench and waked over to her, "Does he know about your little stunt with blowing that guys head off?"

Jinx paled even more than normal, "How… what…"

"Shimmer's been keeping tabs on you. Jinx, we know you're not playing Robin's game, and we know why."

"You don't know-"

"We do. We know because we're the same way. People like you and me, Jinx? We're just no damn good. We can't help it. We're evil. And we like it that way."

"Get out." Jinx pointed at the door, "Every favor I've ever owed you has now been officially called in. I'm not arresting you. Just get out."

"Sure." Gizmo shrugged, then flicked a card at her. She caught it and looked down to see an address and a time. As he was walking out the back door, the diminutive genius called over his shoulder, "See you next week Tuesday," and he was gone.

Jinx, her eyes wide with fright, stared at the card as she sank to the ground. With a choked sob, she wrapped her arms around her legs and began to cry. No one heard her though.

She was alone.

* * *

Next Time - Part to begins to unfold. You may have to wait a few more months, but I'll work on it between my enormous number of research papers.


	14. When You're Going Through Hell

Ties That Bind

A Teen Titans Fan Fiction by Jacob McDonald

Opening Notes – It was 2003 when I started writing Teen Titans fan fics. I was 22 then. Re-Educating Miss Roth was first posted in 2005, when I was 24. Now it's 2012, I'm 31 years old, and I'm still writing these things. It's taken me years to get to a place where I feel comfortable writing again... for a long time now, I've been really unsure about my own ability. Despite the many, many kind reviews I've had over the years, and all the positive feedback I get from everything I write, I'm just not comfortable with my own work. I'm trying to make writing a thing I enjoy again, rather than seeing it as a chore. So, hopefully, you'll see more of me again soon. The current plan is to finish Ties, then maybe one more fic in there, then finish the rest in an order I haven't figured out yet. SO much to do... and hopefully I'll enjoy doing it. Stay with me, just a little longer... I hope you all haven't given up hope all together, though I know many of you have. For that, I'm very sorry.

Standard disclaimers apply. I don't own Teen Titans.

* * *

Chapter 11 – When You're Going Through Hell...

* * *

_October 18th_

* * *

Robin walked into the kitchen at Titans Tower, reading a stack of papers in one hand while his other groped for the coffee pot. As he was just about to actually look away from the printed crime reports, someone handed him a cup and he took it. Finishing the sentence he was reading he looked up to thank whoever it was.

The words died in his throat before he could say them however. He stared up at Cyborg, his mouth slightly open, for a full ten seconds before the frowning cybernetic teen walked past him without saying a word.

Robin whirled before his best friend could make it too far, "Cy! Don't… I mean…" he trailed off as Cyborg stopped and turned his head a little to acknowledge him.

"What?"

Robin stammered for another second then stopped and sighed. He shook his head, "It's been over a month, Cy. I'm sorry. I've said it a million times, and you still won't talk to me."

"Yeah, well, side effect of having your trust betrayed and your heart broken on the same day." Cyborg scowled at the floor, "Don't worry about it. She made her choice and you made yours. Nothin' to do with me."

"That's crap. I should have told you. Of all people, I should have told you." Robin looked down at his coffee, made just the way he liked it. He swallowed hard, "I'm sorry, Vic. I'm…" he trailed off and looked up.

Cyborg was already walking onto the elevator that would take him down to the garage. Robin swallowed hard again and looked back down at the floor.

"I'm sorry.

* * *

Some five levels above the kitchen, Raven knocked on a door that she hadn't knocked on in more than two years. After a moment, the doors swooshed open and Tara stood in front of her, dressed in flannel sleep shorts and a white tank top. "Yeah?" she asked as she scratched her side.

Raven noted her friend's hair was mused with sleep and he eyes were blurry. "It's almost half past eight. Time to get up."

"It's only 8:30?" Tara sounded disgusted, "Why are you getting me up?"

"You're living in Titan Tower now, Tara. We all get up early."

"So why do I have to?"

"Training," Raven shrugged.

"Uh… what?"

"You'll be working out with Donna and me this morning."

It was then Tara noticed Raven was wearing spandex shorts, and a sports bra under a black tank top. Her hair was tied back in a pony tail, black streaked with violet.

"Why?" Tara was still only half awake.

"Because you just spent almost a month lying in bed. You're undergoing muscle atrophy. You need to eat more and start exercising."

Tara sighed, "Okay, yeah. But… training?"

"There's every possibility Slade may come after you again," Raven looked away, "I'd rather you be prepared."

Tara swallowed hard, a little more awake now, "Okay… I'll get changed."

* * *

Jinx stepped into the main room of her lair after having just finished taking a shower. She sighed as she wrapped her towel around her body, letting her wet hair fall free, once again in tightly woven braids swirling blonde and pink together. She glanced across the room to where Gizmo's card lay on the table and sighed again as she plopped down on her bed.

"Eff my life," she muttered to herself.

Something small dropped from the ceiling in front of her and she looked down at her feet to see a small green spider scurry a few feet away. She reached over to her nightstand and picked up the phone book that was sitting there, and dropped it at the spider.

The book was slapped aside as Beast Boy suddenly stood before her. Her pink eyes grew wide as he lunged at her and slammed her to the bed, his hands pinning her wrists and one of his legs tangling hers as the other knee pressed into her gut.

"The fuck…?" Jinx gasped, "BB… what the hell?"

"Shut up Jinx, and listen," he snapped, "I don't have a lot of time."

"I'll listen better if you let me up!"

"SHUT UP!" he shouted and she was briefly cowed by his rage. "Just listen. You control the East End, more than even Robin knows, but not more than I know. I'm keeping track of you Jinx, and I'm watching every move you make. I know about the smack you're getting off the streets even as you boost the pot and 'shroom trade, and I know you're regulating the girls now, even if you're not stopping them from tricking. I know about the guns you're hiding from Robin, and I know… I know Jinx. How you solidified control of the gang."

Jinx paled a little, and Beast Boy continued, "I need you, Jinx. I need you to keep doing exactly what it is you're doing. Grow the organization. Bring in more and more of the smaller gangs, and forge alliances and deals with the Italians and the Triads. I need to know the organized crime Jump City is in good hands. Your hands. I need you to control things tightly without letting anyone know you're controlling them. Got it?"

"What-"

"Shut up." BB said again, "Yes or no."

Jinx glared at him for a second, "Yes. I got it."

"Good." He let her up and walked quickly to the door. As she sat up and glared at him, he turned a chilling gaze upon her, "Watch yourself Jenny. You kill anyone else, and I'll come down on you so hard you won't know your own name when I'm done."

As he opened the door and swept out, slamming it behind him, Jinx stared after him with wide eyes. Not much could shake her, but the way he'd been glaring…

She swallowed hard and reached for the clothes she had laid out. She needed to meet Jose soon.

* * *

Hanna sighed as she rubbed her belly, swollen to almost the nine month mark. She was seated on Janice and Ami's couch, sipping iced tea and ignoring her homework in favor of watching TV and waiting for Janice to finish dinner.

"Won't be long now, shuga'!" Janice called from the kitchen.

"Thanks so much for making dinner for me, Jan." Hanna called back.

Janice walked into the living room from the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron as she did, "Thanks for comin' over while Ami's out at class," she said. "I hate bein' in this big apartment all by myself."

"It's no trouble." Hanna waved a hand. "Aside from having to waddle my ass up and down the stairs. You'd think a building this nice would have a damn elevator."

"It's an older building." Jan smiled as she walked back towards the kitchen.

"Hmm." Hanna turned her attention back to the TV but her phone ringing distracted her. Sighing, she flipped it open without checking the ID and said, "Hello?"

"_Hanna!" _it was Becka (of course) and she sounded excited, "_Halloween party?"_

"Oh God, again this year?" Hanna rolled her eyes, "Becks, your dad's political ambitions don't really matter to the rest of us, and I'm hugely pregnant. I'm not coming."

"_Ami and I are!" _Janice called from the kitchen.

"Ami and Janice will be there," Hanna said, "Now go do your homework. I know you're behind."

"_Alright," _Becka sounded mutinous, "_But you'd better be at Christmas or my mom will kill me." _

"Fine, I'll bring the baby over for Christmas. I'll talk to you later."

"_See ya!" _and Becka was gone.

Hanna sighed again, "I hate the Halloween party anyway."

"Why?" Janice asked as she placed a plate of country fried chicken in front of her friend.

As Hanna picked up her fork and knife she shook her head, "Something always happens."

"Hanna, it's just a costume party!" Janice laughed, "What could possibly go wrong?"

* * *

Speedy sighed and took off his mask to rub his eyes. Staring at computer screens was starting to wear on his sight, and he didn't know how much longer he could take it.

"Any luck?" Donna asked as she stepped up next to him where he was working at the main monitor. He looked up and she handed him a mug of tea.

"Thanks," he muttered, and shook his head, "And no, no luck. I don't know what Dick hopes to accomplish with this… Slade isn't one to leave tracks after he runs away."

"Yeah, well, screw it. To hell with what Dick wants us to look at. Where are we on Beast Boy?"

"Dick doesn't want us looking for him," Speedy looked down, "I'm siding with him on this one, Donna."

"What?" the Amazon looked shocked, "Why?"

"Because he kicked my ass, that's why!" Speedy exploded back at her. She took a step back as he stood up out of the chair, "He didn't just beat me up, Donna. He was trying to put me _down,_" The red haired archer glared at her, "That's not how friends are, Donna. That's not how the Titans are."

"Roy, everything he's doing… it looks to me like he's trying to protect the city still… maybe he has a plan."

"Yeah?" Speedy turned away and started to walk towards the elevator. He called back over his shoulder as the doors swooshed open, "Then he can execute his little plan… without me."

As the doors shut, taking Speedy away with them, Donna looked down at the untouched tea, then back up at the screen. Large block letters read as part of a headline from the L.A. Sun Times; "Nuclear Weapon Facility Broken Into!"

* * *

Ami stepped out of her physics class with a disgruntled look on her face. It was her personal belief that no one should have to study physics after 6:00 p.m., yet here she was, just getting out at 9:00.

"What a fuckin' day."

"Oh yeah, how is the fucking going?" Ami paused and looked over her shoulder to see Beth standing there, smirking at her, "Or have you moved on and stolen some other girl's girlfriend?"

"Oh, you," Ami shrugged, "No, Janice and I are still together… and she was never your girlfriend."

"Uh huh… you keep telling yourself that." Beth moved in a little closer to press her height advantage. She was taller than Janice.

"Look… Beth, right?" Ami shook her head, "I'm not going to argue with you. I know you and Jan slept together, and I've forgiven her for that. But we're happy together, so just butt out, okay?"  
"No, I don't think so," Beth sneered, "Jan's a pretty girl, and she and I look good together. I don't think I'm done with her yet. I think she and I have a lot more ahead of us…"

"She said pretty strongly that she didn't want to see you any more, Beth," Ami turned all the way and squared her shoulders, glaring up at the taller girl, "What was it? Something about having Raven come eat your soul or something?"

"I'm pretty sure she'll change her mind when I've got my tongue back in her-"

SLAM!

Ami shoved Beth back against the wall, glancing up and down the hall they were in to make sure it was deserted, "Okay, fuck calling Raven in. You stay away from my girlfriend, or I'll break every bone of yours I can before someone comes to stop me. Right now it's looking like that might be a while, Beth," Ami narrowed her eyes, "Are you sure you want to start something now?"

Beth struggled against her, but Ami was far stronger, even with her smaller frame. She'd been training to fight alongside a woman who was now the leader of the largest gang in the city, and she worked out every day. One prissy bitch was no match for her.

Beth stuttered for a moment, and Ami let her go. "Stay the fuck away, Beth. Or I'll hurt you."

As the red head turned and stalked off down the hallway, Beth sank to the floor, gasping for breath.

* * *

_October 19th_

* * *

Speedy hit the rooftop of the apartment building with a grunt and rolled out of the fall. He'd misjudged the length of cord needed to get him safely from the last building, and had come down too hard. As he got his breath back he shouted out to his partner for the evening, "Flank him on the right Donna!"

"Affirmative!" the Amazon called and zoomed ahead of him. She caught up to the man they were chasing, a masked man in his early 20s wearing garishly bright colors and pulling odd things from his belt pouches.

"Give it up, Trickster!" she shouted, "If you don't stop, I'll break your-"

"Put a sock in your pie hole, Carpet Muncher!" Trickster screamed back at her and threw a small round ball, which Donna easily caught.

The ball exploded as soon as she had her hand around it, and the Titan was sent sailing off the edge of the building with a shriek more of surprise than pain. Speedy growled and ran faster.

The archer was just about to clamp his fingers down on the Trickster's shoulder when he had to dig his heals in and skid to a stop to avoid running off the edge of the building.

Trickster kept on running, his shoes making strange popping noises as he ran across mid-air.

"Man, I really hate this guy," Speedy growled and pulled out his T-Comp. Punching in a code, he spoke into it, "Yo, Wally! You busy man?"

"_Kindayeah!"_ came Kid Flash's reply, "_Whywhat'stheproblem?"_

Most people wouldn't have even been able to decipher what the speedster had just said, but Roy was an old hand at understanding his friend, "Just the Trickster. He's one of your Rouges, right? Got any ideas?"

"_Call in Jinx."_

Speedy sighed as he flipped his com shut.

"Great," he muttered, "Thanks Wally."

* * *

Jinx glared, "No."

She was sitting at a table, counting a stack of money. Standing in front of her, his arm still in a sling, was C.T. Roller, former head of the East End Rollers, now one of the pink eyed witch's Lieutenants. He frowned back at her and Jose, who was standing behind his boss with his large arms folded across his chest.

"Look, Jinx... we're just not making the money we used to. You gotta let our girls hit it raw-dog, or we're gonna loose business to the Chinese bitches up north!"

Jinx stood up and sat down the stack of fifties she was counting. She leaned across the table, letting him get an eyeful of her cleavage just to rub it in, "Calvin, I said no. And don't go thinking this is some woman thing, and I'm feeling sorry for the girls. I gave every one of them the option to quit when I took over and they made the choice to stay. They can quit whenever they want. But if they're going to be out there tricking, and they're going to be making us money, I'd rather protect my investments. We keep a couple guys around to protect them just in case, and they use condoms. Every. Time. I will not have STD riddled hookers. THAT'S how you loose business."

C.T. frowned and backed off, "A'ight, fine. But those girls up north are gonna cut into our profits. What'choo wanna do about that?"

"Nothing," Jinx was firm, "We currently have an... understanding with the Triads. No way am I gonna start a turf war over the girls. No one will win that."

"And the guns?" C.T. arched an eyebrow.

"Street level enforcers get pistols only. The heavier hardware stays hidden. Last thing I need is Robin coming down on me 'cause he finds out we're keeping assault rifles."

"That's still weird, you and the Titans. They really think you're doing this for them?"

"I let them think that, yeah," Jinx frowned, "Anything else? Or can I get back to this?" and she motioned to the table and the cash.

"Go ahead. I'ma head home. Calvin Jr. should be going down for the night soon, and it's my turn to feed him when he wakes up tonight."

Jinx smiled as she sat back down, "Try to get some rest in there somewhere Calvin. You look worn out."

"Yeah, price of havin' a baby. See ya."

As he walked out the door of the office and shut it behind him, Jinx sagged in her seat, "God this is hard."

Jose placed a hand on her shoulder, "You gotta keep foolin' 'em, Jenny. It's the only way to bring the East End back."

"I know," she placed her hand over his and leaned back in her chair as he started to rub her shoulders, "That's nice. Thanks."

Jose was about to say something when her com vibrated in her pocket. She pulled the communicator out and flipped it open with a sigh, "Jinx here."

Speedy looked back at her through the connection and she could see he was running across a rooftop, _"Hey. Just called Kid Flash for advice on how to take down Trickster and he said to call you." _

Jinx blew her breath out through her teeth, "Speedy I'm supposed to be a gang leader now. I can't just run off and go Titan on a super baddie just because you can't catch him."

_"Well, lucky for us, he's headed straight into the East End, and you're going to have to protect your turf if he keeps throwing explosives like he is,"_ Speedy replied, then cursed as he had to dodge one of said explosives.

Jinx narrowed her eyes, "Give me the nearest cross street to where you are now."

* * *

Across town, cold wind ripped across a rooftop as Robin charged after Katarou, his one-time foe from China Town. After the Boy Wonder had been trained by the True Master and had defeated the would-be ninja, Katarou had been banished and sent to live in exile.

Apparently, Jump didn't count as exile.

"Really, didn't I kick your ass once already?" Robin sounded exasperated, "You know you can't beat me. Why are you even in my city?"

"I have stolen a precious treasure!" Katarou exclaimed as he jumped to the top of a roof AC unit and dodged Robin's flying kick as the Titan leader jumped up after him.

"It will give me new skills! New power to defeat you with!" the ninja held aloft a scroll bound on both ends by jade dragon heads.

"Um..." Robin stopped for a moment, "Okay, didn't expect you to just come right out and say it, but whatever." He spun on the spot and lashed out with a kick, knocking Katarou off the AC unit and down to the rooftop. As the thief stood up to fight, Robin pounced on him.

They rolled across the roof before Robin stood them up. He held Katarou's shirt with one hand while he hammered away at the poor man's body with his other fist, his knees, and even his own head.

When Katarou was sufficiently beaten into submission, Robin stopped. He frowned as he stepped to the edge of the roof, "You know what? Just die," and he flung the ninja from the top of the twelve story building.

Katarou screamed as he fell almost halfway down before Starfire caught him and brought him back up. She dumped him in front of Robin and frowned at her boyfriend.

He looked up at her and winked through his mask. Star took on a confused expression.

"Now," Robin knelt down next to the thief, "you tell me where you got this scroll from, or you take another flight... and I don't think I have any more team mates waiting to catch you this time..."

* * *

The Trickster laughed as he sprang away from Speedy, the archer's kick missing him and forcing a retreat from the Titan. Trickster hurled another brightly colored ball at the rooftop and it exploded into a 10 foot wide spread of pink goo. Speedy backed away from it and had to go around to give chase again, but by then, Trickster was already at the edge of the roof. He jumped off and ran through mid-air again.

Speedy growled and quick as a flash fired a particular detonation arrow after the Rouge. Just as it was about to hit the young man, a motion sensing pouch on his back sprang open and fired off a stream of chaff to intercept it. The explosion rocked Trickster, but not much else.

"You'll have to do better than that!" he called in a sing song voice as Speedy ran after him.

"How about we talk about it on the ground?" Speedy growled as he jumped from the rooftop to tackle Trickster out of the air. The other young man turned and tossed a box at Speedy, which hit him right in the chest. It burst into a bundle of ropes, blowing him back to the rooftop and tying him to a TV antenna that was right at the edge.

Speedy struggled for a second, then dropped his head and sighed, "I really hate this guy," he muttered.

"Later, Speedy!" Trickster laughed as he pulled a pop gun out of... somewhere. Speedy knew it was probably some sort of lethal little toy, but he really didn't care at this point.

"Any time, Jinx."

"Yeah, yeah," came the voice of the girl down below. Trickster looked down and saw her standing on top of a car. He stared down her top and grinned.

"Nice rack, babe!"

Jinx rolled her eyes and whipped a hand out, hurling a lance of pink energy at his feet. Trickster tried to dodge but couldn't move fast enough with his Air Walk Shoes. As the hex hit him, the shoes stopped working, and Trickster fell 30 feet straight down to the ground.

He had enough sense to buckle his knees when he hit the street, but there was still a sharp crack as his ankle snapped. He gasped in pain as he toppled over. Jinx hopped down in front of him and was about to advance when he pointed his gun at her and fired.

Jinx froze up for just a second, but it was all Trickster needed. The cork flew from the pop gun and was about to hit her when in a rush of black and silver, Troia was in front of her, deflecting the cork with her bracers.

As soon as it touched the mettle around her wrists, the cork exploded. The heat and fire washed over the Amazon, who shrugged it off like she barely felt it. Trickster's eyes grew wide as Donna stomped forward, he hair frazzled, but otherwise unharmed.

"Do you have any idea how long it takes to comb all the burnt hair out when you have this much?" the Amazon growled at him, "Oh, you are gonna' _pay_."

Jinx winced as Troia lowered her fist into his face, "Oh, that looked like it hurt."

"I hope so," Troia stood up and walked back to her, leaving Trickster unconscious behind her, "Still having issues with guns?"

"Not so much since the gang war. That just took me by surprise."

"If you need any one to talk to..."

"I know where you live. Thanks Donna."

"Hey!" Speedy called from the roof, "Little help up here?"

Jinx looked up and tossed another hex bolt at him. The ropes snapped and he tumbled off the roof with a yelp.

Donna stepped to the side and easily caught him, cradling him in her arms and grinning.

Speedy crossed his arms over his chest, "If either of you ever breaths a word of this to Dick, I'll murder you in your sleep."

As the girls burst out laughing, Speedy struggled, "Donna, put me down!"

"Do you really want me to?" she asked slyly, "Don't you like it when I hold you like this?"

"I'm starting to, and that's what concerns me."

"Oooh! I'm tellin' Raven!"

"Jen, you wouldn't dare!"

The girls laughed even harder.

* * *

From a rooftop half a block away, Beast Boy frowned at them. He checked a watch he was wearing, then took off as a hawk.

* * *

Robin bowed as he presented the scroll to Wei Huan, the leader of the Jump City Triads. The gang leader was an old man with a long white beard and he frowned as he accepted the scroll.

The Boy Wonder straightened and spoke in Chinese, "I apologize for the delay in returning the scroll, but we had to drop Katarou off with the police before coming here."

Wei Huan shook his head and replied in his native tongue as well, "There is no need for apology, Robin. I am thankful that you have returned my property."

Robin nodded, "I may be a crime fighter, and you may lead a crime syndicate, but I know honor, and I know you hold this for a reason," he nodded at the scroll, "The teachings of Kang Arana should never be unsealed."

Huan raised one eyebrow, "You are well schooled."

"It's my job to be well schooled," Robin smiled. "Now, I must take my leave. Have a good evening, sir."

"And you," Huan bowed, and Robin did likewise. As he turned to leave, Starfire, who'd been standing silently behind him, bowed to the Triad leader as well. She then turned and left with Robin.

"You will have to teach me Chinese sometime." Star mused later as they strolled down the street downtown.

"If it means making out with you until you get the right language out of my head, then sure," Robin flashed her a grin. His smile faded when he saw she wasn't smiling.

Star shook her red hair out of her face and looked up at the stars, "You would have killed him."

"Kori, I knew you were there. You know I wouldn't just toss someone, even that jerk, off a building."

"You mean to say," she stopped and frowned at him, "you knew I was following you, and you used me."

"Ask Donna about that," he scowled, "Apparently, I use everyone."

"You do. You tell us so little. Richard, we must work on rebuilding trust, remember?"

"I know," Robin looked down. "It's just... Kori, I'm fine. You guys don't have to worry about me going over the edge anymore... I'm past all that."

"You are no longer keeping secrets from us?"

Robin shook his head, "No. Unless you count my stash of Choco Bars hidden in my room."

Star floated up and away from him with a scandalized expression, "You would hide candy from your friends?"

"Unless I want Cy and Raven to eat it all, yes," Robin grinned.

"Fiend!" Star laughed, "You must share with me!"

"Why?" Robin started to walk back towards the Tower.

Star floated after him, "Because I am your girlfriend!"

"Hmmm," their voices started to fade as they walked down to the waterfront, "I'll think about it... if you offer your services in exchange."

"I will not whore myself for chocolate."

"What will you whore yourself for?"

"I will show you what I will do to men who ask me to 'perform' for them..."

As their voices faded, a lithe female figure wearing a white cat mask slipped out of an ally they had just walked past and swished her long green sleeves about.

"What are you're friends up to Roy?" Chesire whispered, then dashed off into the night.

* * *

The hum of overhead track lighting buzzed as Corp. Stan Parsons moved down the row of stored munitions in an underground bunker, hidden away far under the streets of L.A. It was grunt work, but it wasn't front line in Afghanistan, so he was okay with it. Every week they had to do a physical check to make sure all of the weapons were still right where they were supposed to be.

As he stopped in front of the last one in the row and checked off the box, a thin sword flashed in front of his eyes and pressed against his throat, drawing a slight trickle of blood.

"Don't move," an excited sounding female voice whispered in his ear, "and don't shout either. These things arm if you move them and count down a 24 hour timer. How do we move them without setting off the trigger?"

Parsons swallowed hard, "The United States government does not negotiate with terrorist," was his reply. He was proud to hear there wasn't a waver in his voice.

"Good. That's good. We don't really care about these dinky things anyway. Where's the Nuclear Weapon depository? And before you answer, Stan, think about that little girl you have back home..." the girl behind him waved his wallet in front of his nose, his ID and the pictures of his daughter folded out. He hadn't even felt her take it out of his back pocket.

"I..." Stan swallowed again, "If I tell you... you'll leave? You won't hurt me or my family, and you won't tell anyone I told you?"

"That sounds like a deal I can live with."

"The dry dock at the Naval Shipyards. There's an old sub there that was reported dismantled, but it's still operational. It acts as a land-based nuclear launch platform," Parsons cursed himself even as he said it.

"Access codes?" the voice demanded.

"I'm Army, not Navy. I don't know."

"Do they blow like these if we try to take them?"

"I don't know."

"Guard detail?"

"I don't know, alright?"

The voice whispered in his ear closely, seductively, "Then what use are you?"

The cold steel never left his throat, but a second sword stabbed into the back of his neck, up at an angle, through his brain and out his right eye. Stan went limp instantly.

Rose Wilson let him drop and pulled back on her sword as he did.

The sword slid easily out of the dead guard's skull, and she flicked it to one side, flinging the blood off of it. As she jumped down from the ledge she was standing on, she grinned at her father, her half mask exposing her mouth.

"Next time you're interrogating a prisoner, try to leave them alive a little longer," Slade told her in a kind of teaching tone.

"I'll try," Ravager nodded, "but at least we found out where they have the nuke. Are you sure your plan will work?"

"Of course," Slade replied, "When we give it to Psimon, he'll naturally want to destroy the first major city he can, and Jump just happens to be very convenient. The Titans will try to stop him and be torn apart from the inside out."

"Cool," Ravager sheathed her sword as she thought about the destruction of the Titans, "Oh Daddy…" she hugged his arm, "This is going to be _so_ much fun…"

* * *

_October 20th_

* * *

Cyborg walked through West Park, one of the largest in Jump City, and also the one he used to umpire youth baseball games at. He had worked with a special league that helped out kids with cybernetic prosthesis limbs. Nothing as advanced as his tech, but he was still really good at relating to the kids and their difficulties.

As he wandered closer to the ball fields, he thought more about those games. Thinking about the baseball games got him thinking about the girl that got him into them. Thinking about her made him think about the first time he'd ever really thought he might be in love.

As he rounded a bend in the path and saw one of the ball diamonds, he saw her sitting there on the bench, just like she used to. Her hair was a little longer now, dropping just past her mid-back, but other than that, she looked exactly as he remembered her.

She caught sight of him and smiled as she waved him over. Cy smiled in spite of himself and walked over to stand in front of her.

"Sarah Simms, as I live and breath, you still make a guys bionic heart go pitter patter."

"Hey Vic," she replied and motioned for him to have a seat.

Cyborg stared at that open seat on the park bench for a long time. He remembered all the good times they'd had, all the arguments, and the time he'd almost gotten her killed simply because she was too close when a super villain had decided to see if they could take down a Teen Titan.

He knew he should just walk away. He should wait to find someone who could protect themselves...

But waiting for things had cost him way too much lately.

Cyborg sighed and sat down next to the blonde heavily. She smiled over at him and then back out at the kids she was watching.

"How've you been?" she asked.

"Oh… you know. Heart break and butt kicking. It's just how my life goes."

"Well, we always like it when you come here."

"Sarah… even after everything that went on between us?"

"Vic, just because we broke up, doesn't mean I hate you. I'd say you're the best man I've ever been with, actually."

"Heh… you sound like you want to give it another shot."

"Do you?" she turned a kind smile on his frowning face.

Cyborg stared for a good long time then nodded, "Yeah. I do."

Sarah stood up and kissed his cheek lightly, "I'm free for dinner tonight if you are."

* * *

Tara gasped for breath as she fell to her hands and knees in the Tower's training room. She looked up through sweat soaked hair at the arched eyebrow of a certain raven haired Boy Wonder.

"I really hate it when it's your day to train with me."

"Why's that?"

"You make me run forever."

"Because you're cardio ability sucks."

"I hate you," Tara dropped her head back down.

"No you don't," Robin held out a hand and she took it. He pulled her to her feet and motioned them over to the training mats, "Come on. I want to walk you through the basics of Judo again, then we can work on your Tai Chi forms."

Tara nodded in a weary manner. For the past three days, she'd been training with a different Titan every morning, then Robin in the afternoons. So far Raven and Donna had done strength training with her, Cyborg had pushed her limits with endurance sprints and pushups, and Starfire had actually done aerobic dance with her. Every day Robin had her run for over a half hour straight, then drilled her in various fighting forms. So far she'd learned the basics of Judo, some kind of kung-fu she was pretty sure no one in China even knew any more, and the Tai-Chi Robin had assured her would improve her grace, all outward signs to the contrary.

"You should take Star out some time soon," Tara said in a conversational manner as they walked to the mats, "You know, like.. tomorrow afternoon."

"Do you think she's jealous that I'm in here wrestling around with another woman?"

"Pretty sure I don't have what you're looking for in a woman," Tara snorted out.

"What do you mean?" Robin stopped at the mats and looked at her quizzically.

"Dick, you haven't so much as glanced at my rack, and I'm wearing nothing but a sports bra. Compared to Kori, I just don't have it going on up here," Tara grabbed her own breasts and hefted their lightness to emphasize her point, "I'm an A cup. Can't get around that."

Robin was blushing so hard by this time it looked as if his head was about to explode, "Sorry... er... I mean..."

"Don't worry about it," Tara waved it off, "But seriously, have you guys been out on a date since you patched things up? Take the girl to a movie or something!"

"We've been busy. With the city cleanup after the gang war and we've had a pretty steady stream of costumed criminals trotting through Jump lately, and-"

"Dick," Tara reached out and shoved him, "The team will live without you and Star for a night. Take her out. Have a good time."

Robin stared at her for a short time, then smiled, "I missed having you around to tell us-" he stopped himself, "I'm sorry... that was thoughtless."

Tara was staring at him with wide eyes, but she blinked away her shock a moment later, "No! It's okay... did she... did Terra keep you in line too?"  
"I don't know about keeping me in line..." Robin rubbed the back of his head, "But... and no pun intended here, she was always so... grounded. I'd come up with something and she'd be right there to be the voice of reason. She would have told me the same thing you just did... and she would have been right, just like you are. Thanks, Tara."

"No big," Tara grinned, "So... what do you think I should dress up as for Becka's big Halloween party?"

* * *

Raven was meditating. The solitude on top of Titan's Tower was deafening, and it was exactly what she needed. There were too many threads woven through her life at the moment and she felt she had to blank her mind and look at each one of them individually.

Starfire and Robin had made up and were once again on good terms. Though he still seemed obsessed with crime fighting, Robin had leveled out recently as well, seeming to have no problems dealing with his interpersonal relationships, which was new for him.

Those were positive things.

She and Speedy were doing fine, Donna had stopped worrying about her son so much, and Tara was becoming more fit and in a better mental state by the day.

Also positives.

Cyborg was still furious at Robin, and he hadn't even said Jinx's name in a month. He referred to her as, 'the gang leader.' He'd been spending a lot of time outside the Tower lately, sometimes not coming home until well after dark, or staying out on patrol until after the sun had come up.

These were negative things.

Beast Boy was still MIA, but the reports of his work in the city were starting to become more and more frequent. He was taking down specific targets, removing obstacles to Jinx's expansion, and eliminating the need for the Titans to patrol certain parts of the city.

By far the most disturbing report was one that Robin had keep so quiet only he and Speedy supposedly knew about it. Raven had dug it up after sensing they were hiding something from her.

Apparently Beast Boy had been in the East End during the gang war when we had stumbled upon a girl who had just been raped. The girl's brother had then found his sister and killed the rapist with a hand gun.

Beast Boy had been there, and he hadn't stopped it. He had _intentionally_ not stopped it. The fact that the rapist had been the same man that had gotten Hanna pregnant lent some credibility to the story.

This was a very big negative.

Add all that to reports that Jinx was starting to consolidate gangs outside of the East End, that there was a new metahuman gang in L.A., and that several nuclear weapon facilities had been broken in to with no trace of intruders left behind despite several deaths, and things were starting to look grim.

Raven's brow knitted as she tried to focus more. There were storm clouds on the horizon... she could sense it. The pattern wasn't complete yet though... there was still something she couldn't put together that would bind everything together and it would all make sense.

Raven floated above the roof of the Tower in the deafening silence. She needed to focus. She needed to find the pattern.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos..." she droned.

* * *

Sunlight streamed in through the drawn shades of a dingy hotel room on the outskirts of Jump City, illuminating the green skin of the changeling that was sleeping in the bed. He rolled over with a groan and threw one arm over his eyes.

After a few minutes of grumbling and tossing about, he finally got up. Beast Boy didn't even bother pulling on his clothes as he walked to the middle of the room. He'd pushed all the furniture to the walls long ago, so he had an open space to work in.

He started moving in a set pattern, arms and legs moving in fluid motion. The Tai Chi Robin had taught him was his wake-up routine now... it helped him focus on all he had to do in a day.

As he finished the routine, he shook his limbs out, became a dog and shook, then became a cat and stretched. Becoming humanoid again, he plodded over to the bathroom to take care of business there.

After he was finished, he glanced at himself in the mirror. Light stubble dotted his chin, and he frowned at it. Despite his shape-changing ability, Beast Boy had never been able to grow any kind of decent facial hair. He concentrated on it for a moment, and with a light ripple in his skin, his chin was smooth once again.

Walking back out to the room, Beast Boy grabbed a hoodie and some second-hand jeans he'd picked up at the Goodwill. Pulling them on, he grabbed his keys and stuck his feet in some beat up sneakers. Ready for his day, Gar Logan stepped out of his room and out into the bright California afternoon.

* * *

His hood pulled up over his green head, Gar walked down the street in the north of Jump City, eying a Chinese man who he had been following for the past several blocks. The man's name was Liu Gara, a high level enforcer for the Triads. He was also one of the most vicious killers in the city, and the changeling had information that led him to believe the gangster had been freelancing as a hit man outside of his organization.

"Not in my city," Gar muttered as he crossed the street and entered the pizza place the thug had just walked in to.

The inside of the restaurant was sparse, with only a few tables and a single counter that ran along the back of the room. Behind the counter the space was dominated by a pizza oven and a dish washing area, all visible from the eating space.

Liu was sitting at a table with a young woman, who looked older than Gar knew she was. The girl was one of the Triad's hookers, and the Chinese gangsters started them young. This girl was still new, though she looked worn down and exhausted. The green skinned hero knew she couldn't be more than 14, and his stomach churned at the thought of what she was being put through.

The gangster was talking to her in Chinese (Cantonese, Gar noted, though he didn't speak much of it... he was better at Mandarin) and motioning with his hands expressively. The girl shook her head over and over, denying whatever he was saying.

Glancing around the pizza joint, Gar saw they were the only two dinners, and there was only one bored looking staffer behind the counter, fanning himself with a large wooden spoon. Civilians at a minimum, Gar made the call for himself to start the take-down.

And he answered to no one except himself any more.

Walking across the room quickly, he lunged the last few feet and grabbed the man about the neck, wrapping his elbow up under his chin and squeezing, hoping to cut off his oxygen and knock him out before he could react.

Liu Gara stood up quickly and flipped the changeling over his shoulder, smashing him through the table and sending the girl screaming away as she stood up and cowered in the corner.

Cursing himself for underestimating a highly experience killer like Liu, Gar quickly morphed into a large bear and roared at the man. His eye's widening, the Triad enforcer pulled out a .45 and blasted off three shots at the huge green animal in front of him.

But it wasn't huge anymore. It was a jack rabbit scurrying towards him. Then, suddenly, it was a ram, plowing him off his feet and into the counter. The lone attendant ducked behind the pizza oven with a scream.

Gar became himself again a moment later, breathing hard from the sudden shifting. He kicked Liu's gun across the room from the gangster (he had dropped it when he'd been rammed) and glanced over his shoulder to check on the girl.

His heart almost stopped.

Rushing to her side, he quickly felt for a pulse. The girl looked in his eyes even as torrents of blood pumped from the bullet wounds in her chest. Gar counted two.

"Stay with me," he muttered to her, even though her knew it was a lost cause. She whispered something to him in Chinese, and her eyes glassed over. Gar closed his own briefly, then opened them again and reached out. He closed her lids, and gently laid her down on the floor.

"Aw, man!" Liu was on his feet again, holding his arm, "You just cost me a good bitch, man!" he shouted at the green skinned hero.

Gar stood up suddenly and lashed out at Liu with a snarl of rage. It wasn't until the Triad fell back screaming that he realized he'd morphed his hand into a claw and had just ripped into the other man rather badly. Noting that the hit-man's gun hand would be useless for the rest of his life, and that he was bleeding enough to die from it within a half hour or so, Gar shuddered. Staring at his own hand, now slick with blood, he shook his head, "What's happening to me?"

A bird darted out the door of the pizza joint and was gone a moment later.

* * *

Becka Pullman was a very busy young lady.

Currently, she was fretting over the fact that she had a paper due in the morning she hadn't even started yet, and was trying to pull off a fund-raiser for the victims of the gang war, which was starting to look like it was going to be an all-nighter.

As she flipped through screens on her iphone, checking guest lists and refreshment stocks, she glanced up and around the ball room she was hosting her 12th gala in. She'd gotten the hang of it after the first four.

Her eyes came to rest on the radiant form of her friend Ginger, who was being fawned over by several of the cities wealthiest young bachelors. Becka grinned. Having a super-popular model/actress at your parties was a surefire way to get the kind of people who had influence (and deep pockets) to not only show up, but donate to the charitable cause as well.

Finally tucking her phone away in the folds of the sash she wore around her waist, Becka picked up the hem of her evening gown and stepped over to where a brown haired girl was checking her PDA as well. Maggie Delmont's gown was simple, didn't draw too much attention to her, and was perfect for the personal assistant of Ginger Hamilton.

"How're you doing, Mags?" Becka asked.

Maggie rolled her eyes as she looked up from her cell, "I'm _fine_, Becka. Cassie healed me almost all the way, and what damage was left, I healed on my own weeks ago. I'm not made of glass, and I won't break. _Please_ stop treating me like I'm broken."

"Okay, okay... you haven't seen _my_ assistant, have you? I could really use her to-"

"Ohmygosh..." Janice, decked out in a simple gown as well, rushed up to Becka's side, "Sorry ah took so long, sugar. These damn heels just won't let me run as fast as I need ta!"

Becka glanced at Janice's dress and felt a pang of jealousy. The dark haired Southerner still looked like a bombshell, even in her far less fancy dress, "Well, stop running around being the hottest girl in here, and take a breather. I need you with me for a little anyway."

"Ah think Ginger has me beat ta'night, hun," Janice smiled, "and Ah'm glad I can help you. What'cha need me ta do?"

"Run interference. See that guy over there?" she pointed.

"Yeah?"  
"He's an aide for my Dad, sent here to make sure I'm not screwing up. He also doesn't like how aggressive I am with some of the guests, asking for donations. I need you to head over there and distract him so I can grab those guys Ginger has captivated right now and grill 'em."

Maggie nodded, punching up a screen on her phone, "The one with the sky blue vest right there? Just closed a deal for about six million in commission. He's got a bank roll to drop some coin with."

"God you're scary," Becka shook her head, "Help a girl out, Jan?"

"Sure thing sugar," Janice grinned and sauntered over to the young aide with her hips swaying.

"Ami's a lucky girl," Maggie noted.

"No kidding," Becka grinned.

* * *

"Hey there, Sugar!" Janice giggled as she slid up to the young aide, "You available ta' take a purrty girl out ta the dance floor for a spin?"

The young man stared at her for a moment, obviously a little startled to have a beautiful young woman just walk up and ask him to dance. Janice took the time to inspect him.

He wore a black suit, not a tux, but it fit him well. His tie was dark green, and complimented his green eyes well. His hair was a light auburn color, not as red as Ami's but not brown like Becka's. He stood just a hair under six feet tall, and looked as though he worked out, even if he wasn't a body builder.

After a long moment of him staring at her (she was impressed to note he didn't stare at her breasts at all, even though they were pushed up and somewhat ogle-worthy) he extended his hand and said, "Rodger Burdine III. And you are?"

Janice put her hand in his and let him kiss her knuckles. She giggled again, "Janice Butler. I'm-"

"Miss Pullman's friend," Rodger cut her off, "yes, I know about you."

Janice was a little unnerved, "What exactly do you know?" she asked as her accent slipped entirely away.

"The Senator has files on all of his daughter's friends. I know your parents are very wealthy plantation owners, you went to school with Miss Pullman, and you're pre-med at JCU," he paused for a moment and looked at her a little sideways, "I also know you're in a homosexual relationship, and aren't actually interested in a man to dance with."

Janice was a bit insulted by his last comment, and a bit freaked out that Becka's dad was just handing out information on all of his daughter's friends, but she pressed on anyway, determined to give Becka the time she needed.

"Just 'cause I'm gay doesn't mean I don't like to dance with a nice guy some times! My girlfriend is just too short to lead, and I grew up learning the traditional female parts of dances... my Mom was big on me knowing all the proper forms of Southern society."

"I don't think so," Rodger replied in a cold tone, "I wouldn't want to pry you away from your sinful nature, and besides," he gave her a once over, this time taking a good look at her chest, "you look like a cheap-"

"I wouldn't finish that sentence if I were you," a hand clamped down on Rodger's shoulder, and Chad Doxen stepped up next to him, "Hey, Jan. Rodger, could you do me a favor?"

"Yes, Mr. Doxen?" Rodger ground out the words, gritting his teeth.

"See that corner over there? Why don't you go stand in it and fuck yourself."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me," Chad's voice dipped lower, and Janice thought he might have been taking lessons from Robin the way his eyes suddenly turned cold, "Take your homophobic ass away from my friend, and hope that I don't mention this incident to Senator Pullman next time I'm over at his house for diner."

Rodger gave them both a sour look and walked away. He grabbed a glass of wine off a tray being toted by a passing waitress and took a large gulp as he made it up to an important looking older man and began to talk to him.

Janice turned to Chad and hugged him briefly, "Thanks for that."

"Hey, you're not just my girlfriend's friend, Jan. We went to school together for four years, remember? You're my friend too."

"Still, thank you. It would have looked really bad if I'd slapped the shit out of him."

"Yeah, it would've, wouldn't it?" Chad grinned, "I'm just glad I didn't punch him."

"No kidding," Jan grinned too, "Now, I offered him a dance and he was too big a dick to take me up on it... Becka's busy at the moment, so I'm sure she won't mind if you get the same offer."

"Can I stare at your boobs?"

"Only a little, and only because they look so good tonight." Janice winked.

"Sweet," Chad held out a hand, "Shall we?"

They walked to the dance floor, both doing their best to forget about Rodger Burdine III.

* * *

_October 22_

* * *

Tara stepped out of the bathroom attached to her room at the Tower, rubbing at her ear with a towel. She'd just gotten done with an hour-long weapon's training session with Speedy, and had needed a good shower. Just as she was about to start looking for clothes to lounge around in (Robin was taking Starfire out on a date, so she was free for the afternoon) her com buzzed.

Grabbing it off her nightstand and flipping it open, she saw Raven on the other side of the video connection, "What's up Rae?"

"You have a visitor."

"I have a what now?" Tara arched an eyebrow.

"Maggie Delmont is here to pick you up. Apparently you have an appointment downtown today."

"Um..." Tara didn't remember any appointments, but if Maggie wanted to hang out, that was cool with her, "I'll get dressed and be right down."

Twenty minutes later, Tara walked into the main room of the Tower, dressed in an ankle length jean skirt that was slit up both sides to just above her knees, and a light pink tank top. She wore flip-flops on her feet and a barrette held her hair back from her face.

Around her neck swung a pendent with a chunk of amber embedded in it.

Maggie stood up from where she was chatting with Donna and Raven on the couch and stepped over to Tara, "Took you long enough."

"I'd just gotten out of the shower."

"Good. It's better if you're clean."

"Why? What are we doing?" Tara walked with her over to the kitchen where she picked up her purse off the counter. She'd left it there the day before when she'd gotten back from shopping for a new top with Starfire.

Maggie looked at her funny, "Didn't Ginger tell you that she was going to introduce you to her agency? You're doing a shoot for a perfume add today."

Tara paled, "What?"

"You're going to a paid photo shoot for a new perfume."

"I hear you the first... why?" Tara was honestly confused.

"Hey, Ginger said come get you and get you down to the shoot. Here I am. Let's go."

"But-"

"No buts!" Maggie grinned and shoved the other girl along, "See ya' Cassie! Donna!"

"Later!" Donna waved.

"Have fun, Tara," Raven waved as well.

A moment later, the two girls were gone, and the two Titans were left alone in the room. They glanced at each other.

"Wanna braid my hair?" Donna asked with a grin.

Raven stared at her for a second with an arched eyebrow, "No."

* * *

"How long will you be gone?" Jose asked as Jinx shoved a change of clothes in her bag, followed by a spare pistol.

"No more than a day or two," Jinx replied. They were in her lair-ish apartment, which was one of the only places they could stop acting and be themselves. Jinx was running the East End for real; she wasn't just a Titan puppet. Robin didn't always know what was best for the city, she was convinced of that, but she still had the same vision he did, and only she and Jose really knew what the organization was working towards – a unified, non-violent, city wide gang that could eventually be disbanded and worked down to nothing at all.

"We're running a pretty light crew this weekend," Jose replied, "We could really use you around town if some shit goes down."

"You'll have to make due. The Titans will still protect the East End if they need to."

"I know that, it's just... why do you have to go?"

"There's just something down in L.A. I have to take care of, that's all. It's best if you don't know too much. And don't let any of the Titans know where I am... especially Raven."

Jose sighed and nodded, "I just worry about you."

Jinx stopped her packing and walked over to him, "That's sweet, Jose, it really is. Here, you can have a parting gift..." and she stripped off her shirt, then started working on his.

"Naw, Jenny... come on, you know I don't like it when you sleep with me then run."

She paused, then smiled gently, "Okay... how about I hang around town for another few hours then. We can take out time... but I really have to get down to L.A. tonight, so I can't stay with you all night."

He smiled down at her, "Okay, fine. You know... I think I might be starting to-"

"Don't," Jinx put a finger to his lips, "Don't say it. Not to me."

"But-"

"No, Jose. You don't need that kind of bad luck, trust me."

* * *

Cyborg sat on top of a hill over looking the small lake in the middle of Jump City's largest park. Next to him, the pretty blonde Sarah Simms was blowing the fluff off a dandelion.

"What'd you wish for?" he asked.

"That you would be more talkative."

"Aw, I'm sorry, Sarah. I didn't mean to be so bummed while we were out together..."

"No, it's understandable. After everything you went through, and Robin was being such a jerk, and Jinx... she really hurt you, didn't she?"

"Stop being so understanding."

"No," Sarah sat up straighter and leaned against him, kissing his cheek, "You and I, Vic? We're really easy together, you know? And I would never ask you to quit the Titans, but... would you consider taking on less responsibility and devoting more time to education and your research for better prosthesis?"

He looked down at her sharply, "We've only gone out twice since we got back together and you're already asking me to settle down? You move fast girl."

She swatted his arm, "Stop being silly. No, it's just... I'd like to think I know your moods, Vic, and I think you'd be a lot happier if you had more time to devote to not, you know, constantly fighting crime. If you could help people with your other talents as well."

He stared at her for a long moment, then sighed and nodded his head, "You always say the right things."

"I just want what's best for you, Vic Stone. You sacrifice too much and you take on too much. It's time to step back and do something for you."

Cyborg looked back out over the lake for a long moment, then lifted his arm and punched up a window on the com-network, "Cyborg to Robin. You there, Boy Wonder?"

* * *

Tara lifted her chin up a bit higher, as she'd just been instructed, and waited for the picture to be snapped, "I still don't get it," she said to Ginger.

The heiress waved a hand from where she was sitting on a chaise lounge nearby, posing as well, "I told you, you have a model's build. And from what I've seen today, you're pretty good at this."

Tara was wearing a slinky evening gown that covered her front fairly well (the stylist had not only done her hair up in an elegant swirl and applied gorgeous makeup, but had also managed to squeeze some cleavage out of her breasts) but left her entire back exposed down to her tail bone. She feared her ass would fall out of it if she bent over.

Ginger was dressed in a similar fashion, but her hair was down, swept back from her face and giving her a regal, commanding look. She moved her legs over so she was facing Tara and rested a hand against her friend's hip, "You should stop selling yourself short, Tara. What you went through was horrible... in fact, your whole life has kind of sucked lately..."

"Thanks, Ginger. You're a peach," Tara rolled her eyes and the camera man squeaked in excitement, snapping rapidly at the apathetic look on her face.

"Hush and let me finish," Ginger stood up and faced Tara. They were both in heels, and almost the exact same height, "Your life hasn't been great, but you have a lot going for you too. Great friends, the Titans, and you're a smart girl too. This is just my way of helping you out a little... a new job can do wonders for your self-image."

"Well, as far as self-image improvement goes, this one's been a real doozy. I look _hot_."

"Yes you do," Ginger grinned, but staggered a little when Tara suddenly hugged her.

"Thanks, Ginger. Really."

Ginger hugged back briefly, "Any time, Tara. Now come on... we have a wardrobe change, then we need to get to the next set. If we're lucky we'll have time to eat something before we start the next shoot."

* * *

It was almost three in the morning when Gar walked back into his hotel room. He'd been out all day doing damage control with the Triads. While he wasn't a fan of their organization, he knew Jinx wasn't ready to pull them under her control yet. He'd had to smooth things over with them in order to keep their trust of the 'good-guys' a little longer.

Tossing his keys on the table next to the door, he yanked off his hoodie and threw it aside. Scratching his side, he stretched and turned to walk to the bathroom.

There, standing in the doorway was a dark form.

A growl ripped out of Gar's throat and he backed away, getting ready to change forms, "Who's there? Who are-"

"Triads, huh? Interesting company you're keeping these days," the dark form stepped into the light and stared down at him.

Slade Wilson, Deathstroke the Terminator, grinned at the changeling through his mask, "On top of all that, I hear you're ripping people apart and alienating the Titans... Garfield, I can't wait to find out what kind of trouble you're getting yourself into out here on your own."

* * *

Closing Notes: I've already started the next chapter. Look for it soon (I hope). Until then, tell me what you thought. I know it's getting dark, but there needs to be a little dark before the dawn.


End file.
